Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Warmth. But that was normal; it was Summer after all. And yet, it felt different at first. Just a very subtle yet noticeable change in temperature from the moment he fell asleep (he did fall asleep, right?) and the moment he was just now waking up.

It was warm but cooler. The sunlight wasn't quite reaching his eyes, blocked by a tree providing helpful shade. How did he fall asleep? Aizawa-sensei, and especially Tiger, would definitely give him an earful for sleeping when he should be training. To think he went out of his way to sign up for this special Summer training camp, which took in students from all over Japan, and here he was, wasting away the opportunity by dozing off.

He should probably open his eyes right now.

"..."

The Sun hung high in the sky. Was it morning before? Did he really sleep all the way until noon? How did he even manage to sneak away to do something like that?

Midoriya Izuku tried to move his head, only for a sudden uncomfortable feeling to overwhelm him. It wasn't quite like his head hurt, nor was it really nausea; it was a dizziness of the kind where you sit up too quickly, only he definitely hadn't done that. The feeling went away quickly enough and he ran a hand through his head as he sat up on the grass with a groan.

"I have to get back to camp... m-maybe if I apologize enough times, I won't get in trouble..." he mumbled to himself as he slowly took in the environment around him. He seemed to be pretty deep in the forest surrounding the Wild Wild Pussycats' campsite; he couldn't hear any of the other members of his class doing their training (members like Katsuki and Kouji were pretty hard to miss, given their respective trainings).

Although the more he looked at the forest surrounding him, the more something felt... off. He wasn't exactly a botanist or anything, but the trees around him looked rather different from what he'd grown accustomed to in the campsite; they were wider, a more purplish-grey coloration of their trunks, and they twisted in often bizarre shapes (could trees really bend like that?).

"How far away am I...?"

Please, let him not be lost.

Izuku rubbed his legs, which felt a bit tingly for some reason, and that's when he realized he wasn't in his school tracksuit. This was odd, since that was the first thing they put on at 5:30 in the morning. He was wearing the same outfit he was wearing last night, a pair of brown cargo pants, and a green shirt that said "coat". So did that mean-

"D-Did I not go back to camp last night...!? What other explanation is there, if I never got dressed for morning practice, does that mean I slept all night in the wilderness, everyone must be worried about me, what even happened last night, I need to get back right away before-"

He stopped his frantic mumbling as he realized something else. A fuzzy shadow on the very corner of his vision, staring right at him.

Slowly turning his head, he saw... a cat. Or at least, someone who looked like a cat, since, well... they were standing on two legs. Their fur was snow white, with a bushy and lengthy silver mane that stretched down their back. On closer inspection, given their rounded ears and the fur at the tip of their tail, it was more likely some kind of lion mutation, more specifically. And given the blue armor they wore (covering their torso, hands and paws, and a visor resting on the forehead), were they a Hero? They were really small too, only reaching just about Izuku's waist; did the Wild Wild Pussycats have a mentee or something?

"..." Izuku looked at them.

"..." and they looked at Izuku.

"..." and he looked at them.

"..." and they looked at him.

"...uhm-"

"You're Izuku...?" the tiny lion asked.

"Oh! Y-Yes, that's me!" things quickly fell into place, Izuku guessing that this person really was here on behalf of the Pussycats to find him. "I-I'm so sorry for all the trouble I caused! I have no idea how any of this even... eh?" Izuku blinked, seeing the look on the lion's face grow more and more... disappointed?

"Th-That can't be right!"

Izuku blinked, clearly surprised. "E-Eh?"

"No! You can't be Izuku!" the lion adamantly claimed. "Izuku is supposed to be strong, a-and gallant! But you... you just look like a wimp! This is all wrong!"

Izuku felt an arrow sharply burst its way through his self-confidence (but it's OK, there wasn't much of it to begin with). "I-...I'm sorry...?"

...but, wait, did someone at the campsite describe him a strong and gallant or something...?

The lion only seemed more and more distraught each time Izuku opened his mouth. "No, no, no! This has to be a mistake! The old man must've gotten it wrong! You can't be my partner! You can't!"

Izuku flinched. While he had no idea what this was about, it was getting a bit uncomfortable to watch. The lion was acting more like a little kid than a Hero, student or otherwise, as he threw a tantrum over Izuku. "W-Wait, h-hold on, please! What do you mean 'partner'? Is... is this some kind of training exercise? I thought you were here to rescue me!"

The lion frozen, staring wide eyed at Izuku. "Rescue y-...?" and those wide eyes quickly welled up with tears, the lion falling to the ground as its tantrum only magnified. "No, no! You're not Izuku! You're not Izuku! Waaaaahh!!!"

Another flinch, Izuku nervously hovering over the crying lion. "Ah-! Wait-! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I-It's OK! P-Please stop crying! Please!"

"Spadamon!" a voice called out from deeper in the forest, urging Izuku to look in its direction.

Not long after- "Spadamon! Ha ha! Spadamoooon!" a small dragon leapt out from some bushes, "Hey! Hey! Spadamon! Look! Look! Spada-...mon?" the tiny dragon blinked, staring down at the crying lion. "Spadamon, is this a new dance?"

Izuku could only stare in amazement at the small dragon. Was this another kid with a mutation Quirk? It had to be, right? Sure, he was looking at a teal dragon that seemed like it jumped right out of a fairy tale, with tiny red wings and two red horns on the back of its head, but that wasn't out of the realm of possibility for Quirk when you consider Heroes like Godzillo. Was he near some kind of camp for small kids, the lion boy did say he was supposed to be partners with him, was this really some kind of training exercise, did he just hit his head really badly and forgot the entire morning, or maybe-

"Hey, mister, why you mumblin'?"

"Eh?" Izuku blinked, realizing he was doing his muttering again as he looked at the small dragon.

"Ha ha! It's funny!" the dragon smiled brightly at him, which at least urged Izuku to smile back, even if a bit awkwardly.

"Dracomon!" another voice called coming from the same direction the dragon had come from, "Dracomon, don't run off ahead without me!"

Izuku's eyes widened in recognition as the figure stepped into view: vivid orange hair tied up in a ponytail on the left side of her head.

As she noticed him, she quickly recognized him too. "Ah-! You're from Class A!"

Izuku quickly got to his feet, "And you're from Class B!"

"Itsuka! Itsuka!" the tiny dragon girl jumped up excitedly before makings its way back to Kendou Itsuka, quickly hugging her leg, "Hey! Hey! Itsuka! Look! Spadamon's doin' a funny dance! Look, look!"

"I-It's not a dance!" the lion (Spadamon, apparently) petulantly shouted.

"Eh?" the dragon (Dracomon, it seemed) blinked, "It's not? Then you really were cryin'?"

"I-I wasn't crying! either" Spadamon pouted as he quickly wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Ehhh? Ya weren't?" Dracomon tilted her head.

"No! I was just angry! Angry because-" Spadamon quickly aimed a finger at Izuku, "This impostor claims he's Izuku!"

Izuku flinched at the accusation, "I-I'm telling you, I really am Izuku..."

"Whaaaat?" Dracomon looked at Izuku, "Hey, hey, Imposter-san! Are you really saying that? Are ya? Are ya?" she stepped closer, clutching Izuku's pants leg to shake him as she repeatedly asked.

"I-I- it's just-" Izuku had no idea how to respond.

"Dracomon, stop bothering him!" Itsuka called, which quickly got the dragon to stop doing what she was doing, and just giggle as she bounced back towards her.

"Hee hee! Itsuka! Itsuka~!" Dracomon happily sung.

"What!?" Spadamon jolted, "Th-That's Itsuka!? You really found her?"

"Dracomon did~! She did~!" Dracomon cheerfully answered.

Spadamon stared up at the ginger-headed girl, then slowly back at Izuku. And tears quickly formed in his eyes again as he fell on his back, flailing his arms and legs in another tantrum, "No! No! No! No! Why's this happening! Where's Izuku! I want to meet Izuku! Whaaaaa!!"

By this point, Izuku was done being surprised, and just resigned himself to silently sigh at Spadamon's continual and vocal disappointment in him.

"It was... Midoriya-san, right?"

Izuku blinked, looking back at Itsuka at her question. "Th-That's right! And you're... Kendou-san?"

Itsuka smiled and nodded. "That's right. I'm so relieved to see a familiar face. Do you know the way back to the camp, Midoriya-san?"

Izuku was also pretty relieved, but if even Itsuka was lost out here... "I'm afraid not. I don't even remember how I got here."

"Hmm... you too, then..." Itsuka said, which quickly told Izuku she was every bit as lost as he was. "I don't even remember waking up this morning, and considering I'm not wearing the tracksuit..." she looked down at her outfit, a sensible peach-colored top with a blue vest on top, and baggy jeans.

"Those are the same clothes you wore yesterday?" Izuku asked, which Itsuka nodded. "It's the same with me." he brought his hand up to hold his chin in thought, "But what exactly that means, I can't really say..." he thought about it a bit longer, then gained a slightly more uneasy expression. "Y-You don't think our teachers somehow knocked us out, and dropped us off in the middle of the forest as some kind of test, do you?"

Itsuka blinked. "Come on, they wouldn't do-..." and then stopped, her expression flattening as she remembered how many times their own teachers had lied to them for some kind of lesson. "...O-OK, maybe I wouldn't put it past UA, b-but what about them?" she motioned at Spadamon (who was lying face down on the ground as he wallowed in self-pity) and Dracomon (who just poked at Spadamon's side as she giggled), "I mean, they seem to be just a pair of kids; wouldn't it be dangerous to just leave them lost in the forest like that?"

Izuku hummed and nodded, agreeing with Itsuka that that was a flaw in his reasoning.

"Although, we were given this..."

Opening his eyes, Izuku blinked as Itsuka opened up her vest, showing off a small but strange device that was hooked on an inner pocket. Izuku wasn't really sure how to describe it: it kinda looked like a watch, but too big to fit on the wrist, and without any strap to do so anyway. It had a small screen in the center, three buttons on its front, with a fourth one on top of it, and a shape that kinda resembled a dorayaki.

"What's- Wait, we?" Izuku asked, and Itsuka nodded as she pointed, Izuku following her finger down to the hem of his pants. Sure enough, he had the same device clipped on. He quickly picked it up in order to inspect it more closely, the device fitting perfectly in his hand. "What are these...?"

"No idea. I tried pressing every button I could to turn it on and try to find out, but nothing worked."

"Itsuka! Itsuka!" Dracomon called as she tugged on her pant-leg. "What's that? Is it food? Is it tasty?"

"I-I don't think it's food, Dracomon-chan." Itsuka answered with a smile, the dragon girl quickly understanding and leaving her be. "Well, anyway, whatever happened, we should probably try and find our way back to camp."

Izuku nodded in agreement. "Right. I'll just use my Quirk real quick to jump into the air, and see if I can get some sense of how far we are." Izuku stepped back a bit, placing the strange device back where it was, then braced himself. He felt the familiar sting of One For All coursing through his entire body... but something felt off. I'm using 5% of my power... but why does it feel so weak? he wondered and let himself raise it up just a bit more. 7%, still too weak... 9%, still not good enough... this was crazy, he'd never gone past 10% before without wrecking his body in some capacity, but he was nearing 30% and he still felt too weak!

It took him double that before he finally felt he was at the same level as he normally was only at 3%! Was he simply too dazed still to recognize what was going on, and he really was at 5%? Something to think about later; Izuku leapt straight up into the air, landing atop one of the main trees surrounding them, peeking his head out from the leaves at the highest point he could get to get a good view of what was around them.

Well, there were trees. And more trees. That was probably to be expected; they were in the middle of a forest, but he couldn't see any clearings or anything. Thankfully, his scouting mission wasn't a total failure.

"Do you see anything?" Itsuka asked from ground level.

"Yeah! There's a wind turbine a ways off from where we are!" he called back.

"A wind turbine? I don't remember there being any of those near the camp!"

Izuku jumped off the tree (again, feeling like he needed to use 60% of One For All just to make the landing) and nodded. "Yeah, me neither. But there's more: I don't see any mountains around either."

This got Itsuka noticeably more nervous. "But that's impossible! We were surrounded by mountains; we can't have gone so far off that we'd lose sight of them!"

"Itsuka?" Dracomon asked, "What's going on? What're you and Imposter-san looking for?"

"Ah- Uhh... Dracomon-chan, was it?" Izuku crouched down to be closer to her level, "We're looking for a way back to our camp. Did you and, uh... Spadamon come from somewhere nearby?"

The dragon blinked, but she quickly smiled. "Ah! We came from the village!"

"There's a village around here?"

Dracomon quickly nodded to answer Itsuka. "Yeah! It's that way! That's where we come from! Jijimon-jiji lives there!"

"Jijimon...?" Izuku blinked, and was starting to wonder if maybe all of these people were related. He looked over where Dracomon pointed and stood back up. "That's the same direction I saw the wind turbine, so I guess it's as good a direction as any to go towards. Let's go." he looked at Itsuka who nodded in agreement.

"Pfeh!" Spadamon scoffed as he slouched on his side. "Look at this guy... he climbs up a tree, and suddenly thinks he can act all leader-like... it's pathetic!"

"Spadamon, let's go back to the village! See Jijimon-jiji!" Dracomon hopped.

The lion sighed and stood back up. "Alright, alright... but I'm not going there to follow you!" while he spoke generally, he aimed his finger directly at Izuku, "I'm only going back so Jijimon can confirm what I already know! That you're not Izuku!"

Izuku's shoulders sagged, but he let it pass; at least Spadamon was going to come along without a hassle, so the four of them could actually make it to civilization. But Izuku quickly remembered to ask something rather important: "Say, Dracomon-chan..." he figured he'd get a straighter answer from her than Spadamon, "How do you guys know our names?"

The dragon glanced up at him as they walked and hummed in deep thought. "...I don't know!" she cheerfully exclaimed, "As soon as Dracomon saw Itsuka, Dracomon just knew right away it was Itsuka! Ha ha!"

Izuku couldn't say he was particularly happy with that answer, and a quick exchange of looks with Itsuka told him he wasn't getting anything more complicated than that from Dracomon. So he figured it wouldn't hurt to try- "A-And you, Spadamon...?"

"Hmph! Don't get so full of yourself!" the lion scoffed. "I just mistook you for Izuku at first, that's all! But Jijimon will get this all straightened out, I'm sure of it!"

"Is this Jijimon a friend of yours?" Itsuka asked.

"Jijimon is the village elder." Spadamon answered, "He knows more about everything than anyone we know."

"Jijimon is very smart! He's as smart as he is old!" Dracomon giggled.

"I see." Itsuka nodded before turning to Izuku, "At least we know there's an adult around. They should be able to help us." Izuku nodded in agreement, and the four continued their trek across the forest.

It took a while, a bit longer than either Izuku or Itsuka felt comfortable with, but they finally reached the wind turbine the former had spotted before. Unfortunately there was still a bit of a journey back to the village, but at least they knew they were halfway there. The wind turbine itself wasn't particularly notable, maybe a little smaller than Izuku was expecting, but other than that, it was just a regular wind turbine.

But there was a single cable leaving it. And that cable was connected to a randomly placed kitchen blender.

That got Izuku to stare a bit as they got closer, as naturally quite a few questions were raised inside his brain. Who would build a wind turbine just to power a blender? Why have a blender sitting on the ground in a random part of the forest? Who would ever need a blender in the middle of the forest? And most importantly, why would you build a giant wind turbine just to power a blender!?

"That seems a bit wasteful, doesn't it?" Itsuka said what Izuku was fervently thinking, getting him to chuckle a bit.

"Well, at least it shouldn't be too long before we reach that village, right?"

"Yeah!" Dracomon skipped.

"Another twenty minutes or so." Spadamon answered, which got Izuku to flinch.

"Th-That long!?" how did these kids manage to get all the way out here!?

"...Midoriya?"

The voice got Izuku to suddenly stop. He recognized that voice. "Jirou-san!?"

Sure enough, the familiar shape of his classmate made itself seen as she stepped out from the other side of the wind turbine. "Holy crap, it is you!"

"Jirou-san!" Izuku quickly gained a wide smile at the sight of his classmate, and he quickly ran over to her. "Jirou-san, do you know what-"

"What we're doing all the way out here? I was kinda hoping you would know." she answered with a light sigh. Naturally Izuku was a bit disappointed, but he couldn't hold it against her for not knowing either.

"Let me guess, no memories at all since last night?" Itsuka asked as she approached.

Kyouka shook her head. "None whatsoever. I'm even wearing the same clothes I was wearing then." she lightly motioned at her favorite The End Of Villains grey t-shirt and black leggings. But she then got a better look at Izuku, realizing he was wearing the same thing from last night too. "Same?"

"Same..." Izuku nodded with a light sigh. "It's so weird. If we'd woken up at the same time we always do, we should definitely be in our gym clothes and not-"

"Who's your friend, Kyou-chan~?"

Izuku trembled as he felt someone's breath right on the back of his neck. Turning his head, he'd find someone quite blatantly invading his personal space, a pair of wide dark-brown eyes and plump lips beneath a head of fawn-colored long hair. Once the information reached his brain and told him he was this close to a girl, his face quickly reddened as he jumped in embarrassment, sputtering incomprehensible gibberish.

"Ah, yeah, this is Utsushimi Camie." Kyouka said.

"Just Camie is fiiiine~!" the girl cheerfully exclaimed.

"She's with the second-years, and finds herself in the exact same situation we're in. Camie, this is Midoriya Izuku, and Kendou...?"

"Kendou Itsuka." Itsuka bowed lightly as she introduced herself. "Pleasure to meet you."

"We're all from UA." Kyouka concluded.

"Hello, hello! Like, it's so cool to meet you! I'm a second-year at Shiketsu, but I'm way confused about where we are now!" despite that, she sounded incredibly positive and happy, a small but sunny smile stuck on her lips.

Once Izuku was over his little embarrassment-attack, he could've probably told she was from Shiketsu just from the way she looked. Unlike UA, Shiketsu was incredibly stingy about the use of their uniforms, and even outside of school, students were expected to wear their uniforms on official business. While everyone else was wearing casual clothes, she was wearing the same white shirt, black and orange jacket (which was tied around her waist, no doubt due to the heat) and black skirt, and the iconic Shiketsu black and orange peaked cap. Both Kyouka and Camie had the same curious device Izuku and Itsuka had, clipped on their skirt and jacket respectively.

"I-It's nice to meet you too, Utsushimi-san..."

"Camieeee!" she playfully whined. "Like, you don't have to be so stuffy with me, friendo~!" she winked, which got Izuku to blush all over again.

"'Ey, what are we? Chopped livah?"

As was getting customary, a new voice made itself heard, but this was another one Izuku didn't recognize. He peered past Camie, and as a small part of him was expecting, there were two small beings nearby: one resembling a shaggy white dog with floppy burgundy ears and a lengthy burgundy tail, and the other some kind of lanky yellow possum(?) on two feet wearing brown long johns, and with a somewhat shifty look on his face.

Kyouka's expression flattened at the possum(?), but started introducing them. "This is Neemon, apparently..."

"And this is Labramon!" Camie quickly picked up the shaggy dog, holding him up so Izuku and Itsuka could see him better. "Isn't he just the cutest!?"

"It's very nice to meet all of you." Labramon spoke with a courteous bow of his head.

"Yo." Neemon casually introduced himself, making a V-sign with his tiny hand.

"Labramon! Neemon!" Dracomon cheerfully hopped over, "You guys found them too! That's great! Dracomon found Itsuka too!"

Kyouka glanced between the small dragon and lion. "You found some too, huh?"

"Y-Yeah..." Izuku said. "That's Dracomon, and this is Spadamon..."

The lion quickly scoffed. "I can introduce myself, Impostor!"

Kyouka blinked and looked at Izuku, who just gave her a light sigh and an expression that screamed "I don't know either".

"We're on our way to the village these guys came from." Itsuka spoke up.

Kyouka nodded. "We were heading there too, but stopped here just to rest a while. Feels like we've been walking for hours under this heat."

"And it was so cool and I remember it being so chilly yesterday too!" Camie whined, "That's the only reason I even have my jacket with me!"

"We're good to go now though, so we won't keep you."

Izuku nodded. "Alright, I think it's better we get to the village as quickly as possible, just so we at least know where we are. Let's go."

With everyone in agreement, the group carried on their journey.

As they did so, Izuku still felt it prudent to ask: "Did either of you guys find a sign of anyone else?"

Kyouke shook her head. "No, it's just been us two- well, four."

"I take it you woke up, and found these little guys standing by you?" Itsuk asked.

"Yep!" Camie answered with a bright smile, "Labramon was protecting me from any bad people while I slept like a baby! He's such a little gentleman!"

"Dracomon protect Itsuka too!" the little dragon cheered, which got Itsuka to chuckle."

"That's right, Dracomon was protecting me too."

Izuku smiled and looked over at Spadamon as the lion marched at the front of the group. "So you were..."

Spadamon jolted, sputtering a bit. "I-I was only looking out for you because I thought you were Izuku! The right one! H-Had I known you were just an impostor, I wouldn't have bothered!"

While he maybe should be a little hurt, Izuku couldn't help but find how embarrassed Spadamon sounded to be a little cute. "Then you and Neemon must've been the sa-"

Izuku stopped when he saw the sheer icy look on Kyouka's otherwise expressionless face. "He was asleep."

"'E-Ey, you should take it as a compliment!" Neemon argued, "I felt confident there was no danger, and ya didn't need me to protect ya!" this earn a light huff from Kyouka, but she did seem to warm up a little bi- "I mean, have ya seen your mug while ya sleep? Ya could scare off anything looking like tha-AYE!" Neemon squeaked as Kyouka's earphone jacks on her earlobes suddenly stabbed into Neemon's neck; a deadly move Izuku had seen used on Minoru and Denki a lot, and hoped to never be on the receiving end of.

But Izuku quickly noticed something was off. He had a habit of over-analyzing Quirks, and that included his classmates'; all the times he'd seen Kyouka's Earphone Jacks in action against Minoru and Denki had allowed him to pick up how strongly she channels her heartbeat through them, and what she was using on Neemon was considerably less powerful than she used to. While it could just be that she isn't really interested in hurting the little guy, considering what he experienced earlier with One For All...

"Have any of you used your Quirk since you woke up?"

The group blinked, looking at Izuku after he asked the question out of the blue.

"Not really." Itsuka answered.

"Haven't, like, had a reason to, no?" Camie said.

"Just now, on this smartass." Kyouka added with a slight leer towards Neemon.

"But have you tried using it to its full potential?" turned to her, getting Kyouka to blink. She took a moment to think, before Itsuka letting out a light shout caught their attention.

"Wh-What is this!?" Itsuka stared at her hands, which were now about twice their normal size; a far cry from what her Big Fist could normally achieve. "I-I'm trying as hard as I can, but this is as big as I can make them!"

Camie took in a short breath before she blew out a twinkling light-purple smoke from her mouth, and within it, crude images like scribbled drawings appeared and dance around for only a second before vanishing. "Woah! Like, I haven't made illusions that lame since I was in elementary school! What gives!"

"Now that you mention it..." Kyouka realized, "When I tried using my Earphone Jack earlier to detect anyone nearby, it was like I couldn't hear anything past just a couple meters or so."

Izuku hummed. "I was afraid of that... the same thing happened to me with my own Quirk; it's like nearly all of its power's been siphoned away from me."

"Itsuka! Itsuka! What's a Quirk?" Dracomon asked, waving her arms to get attention.

"Eh?" Itsuka blinked, "What do you mean, what's a Quirk? Shouldn't you know that by now? I mean, isn't your Quirk..." Itsuka trailed off as the four kids(?) both looked at her with obviously no idea what she was talking about, which only got Itsuka to feel more awkward. Did they really not know what Quirks were? Then how else would you explain the way they look? Were they just not told for some reason, or...

"You guys... what are you?"

Izuku's mouth maybe asked that question faster than his brain could decide whether it was a good idea or not. The group of strange animal-like figures all looked between one another, and their answer was as simple as if he'd asked what color the grass was.

"We're Digimon!" answered Dracomon, cheerfully.

"What else would we be?" said Neemon with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Isn't it obvious?" scoffed Spadamon.

"Digi...mon...?" mouthed Kyouka, clearly baffled by this.

"What's a Digimon?" Camie question.

"You mean... you're not humans...?" Itsuka asked, albeit a bit hesitantly.

And sure enough- "What's a human?"

Dracomon's question was so simple and innocent, but it didn't make the student group any less nervous. All of them had been working under the assumption these were just humans with Mutant-type Quirks, but now they couldn't be so sure. There was always still the possibility they were animals with Quirks, just like Principal Nedzu was, but then why not introduce themselves as that? Why didn't they know what humans were? If they lived in a village, surely there must be humans there, right?

Izuku exchanged looks with the three girls, their collective uneasiness only growing. The most they could do now was wait, and hope they could find answers at the village, and whoever (or whatever) this Jijimon was...

Of course, that was just too much to ask for, and they were left with only more questions once they arrived at the village.

For one, the village looked like it was made for toys, each hut being about as tall as the Digimon that followed them here; even Minoru would have a hard time getting inside one of these huts!

Second, when all of the villagers showed up to greet the Digimon, they didn't look any more like familiar animals than they did. Most of them didn't even look like animals at all. They looked like... well, heads. Bouncing heads with no limbs, some fuzzy some not, some with a single horn in their head, others with antennae, and some just looking like walking jelly.

"O! M! G! You are just the cutest little bean!" Camie cooed as she picked up one of the bouncing heads, a purple one with two crooked ears. "What's your name, you widdle cutey-bootie~?"

The tiny creature blushed, turning its eyes away from Camie in embarrassment. "I-I'm... Yaamon..."

"Yaamon's shy!"

"Nice lady!"

"So big!"

"Pick me up! Pick me up! I wanna be big too!"

The other tiny creatures crowded and hopped around Camie with excitement and curiosity.

"This... is too much..." Itsuka claimed, bewildered at how this was turning out. "Are all of you guys Digimon too...?"

"Yeah!" said a pink head with two antennae on it.

"But you don't look like a Digimon!" said a green head with four stubby feet, and a plant growing out of its, well, head.

"It's true! You don't! You don't!" said a tiny hamster-looking grey creature with a yellow mohawk and yellow spikes coming out of its backside.

"Why do I get the feeling things are only going to make less sense here..." Kyouka muttered, which Izuku could only sigh in resigned agreement.

"What is all the commotion out there!?"

They heard a voice call out from deeper in the small village, before a tall young woman with a hime cut barged her way out of the larger hut in the center. Her hair was lavender, and she wore a very expensive-looking white waistcoat over a pale purple shirt, a baby blue sweater tied over her shoulders, clean white dress pants and a white beret atop her head, along with a grey satchel carried around her shoulder. "Has this Jijimon come back ye- Oh!" her expression changed from annoyance to surprise, and a bit of relief. "Oh, thank goodness! People!" she marched out from the hut, making her way closer to the other students. "Finally! I knew someone had to be out there looking for us, and now we're saved!"

Izuku and the others blinked, but only Camie actually seemed to recognize the other girl. "Oh! You were at the camp too!"

"Hm?" the girl blinked, "What are you on about? Of course I was there! Isn't that why you're here? Because I disappeared?" she sighed as she held her forehead, "Good grief, did they send other students on a rescue mission...?" she stood up straighter before introducing herself, "I am Intelli Saiko, second-year Hero student at Seiai Academy. I'm the one you came looking for, right?"

Kyouka frowned slightly at the attitude on display; if she really thought they were here to rescue her, she could show just a little bit more gratitude. "Sorry lady, we're every bit as lost as you are."

Saiko blinked, her expression quickly growing incredulous. "What!? Th-That can't be right! Are you seriously telling me all of us somehow got separated, and got lost in this wretched forest!? Unbelievable! I thought the Pussycats specialized in mountain rescue, but here we are; six students lost under their watch!"

"Wh- Hey, slow down! What do you mean, six students?" Itsuka looked past Saiko, and sure enough, another figure crawled out from the larger hut, but this one she actually recognized. "Kodai!? You're here too?"

The gloomy-looking girl with black hair and a simple white summer dress stood up, her eyes widening so slightly it barely made a difference. "Kendou-san..."

"Well, this is just fabulous!" Saiko scoffed. "I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere, who knows how long before rescue gets here, and all I can do is rest on my laurels waiting for this Jijimon character who might not even exist, surrounded by these bizarre things who-"

"W-Wait, back up a second!" Izuku asked, "You said Jijimon isn't here?"

Saiko blinked, but quickly answered. "He is not. We were brought here to speak with this man, and he has the gal to be away in a matter of life and death!"

Izuku quickly noted Saiko also had one of those strange devices attached to the straps of her satchel, and as Kodai Yui got closer, she too had it clipped to the sash around her dress. But just as importantly were the Digimon that were following. Up to this point, as strange as some of the sights have been, he could still somewhat make sense of everything as strangeness that wasn't totally impossible in this world. He hadn't yet ruled out the possibility these Digimon were nothing more than mutated animals, perhaps ones that have lived all their lives so deep in the forest they had never interacted with humans before, explaining why they wouldn't know what those were.

But seeing these two Digimon made it incredibly harder to believe that.

The one that had walked up next to Saiko was wearing cardboard as clothes. And not in a simple "cardboard cutout" kind of way; he was covered head on toe in some kind of makeshift cardboard box armor: his shoes were cardboard boxes, his pants were cardboard boxes, his arms and torso, and the head was literally a plain cardboard box with one large left eye drawn on it, while the right eye had a small hole on it that made the Digimon's real eye orange-glowing (and kinda creepy, to be perfectly honest) eye faintly visible. But it was the one who bounced next to Yui that completely turned Izuku's world on its head.

It was a candle.

A candle with arms and a face, hopping on its candlestick.

And a lit wick with a large flame that he was pretty sure was grinning right at him.

Izuku did not know what to think anymore.

"Saiko, are these friends of yours?" the box creature asked, but this only seemed to rile up the young woman.

"What did I say about acting so familiar around me!?" she aimed a finger down at the quickly-growing-scared creature, "For all I know, you could have been the one to kidnap me!"

"Saik- I-I mean, Intelli-san, no! I would never do that!" the creature waved his arms, desperately trying to plead his case.

"Hey, go easy on the guy, will you?" Kyouka was quick to butt in, "We're all kinda freaked out, but these guys are clearly just as out of the loop as us!"

"Bakomon is nice!" Dracomon stepped up to defend the other Digimon.

"Then how did he know my name, huh!?" Saiko countered. "This whole thing reeks of a planned Villain attack! They planned on kidnapping a bunch of students from their camp, possibly as hostages, or worse, some attempt of brain washing them into joining their ranks!"

"So they left us all scattered in the middle of the forest where we could wake up?" Itsuka argued back. "Seems like a strange plan, don't you think?"

Saiko opened her mouth as a rebuttal, but then paused to think about it for a moment. "I suppose it would be unlikely these Villains just accidentally dropped all six of us behind while they made their escape..."

"W-We shouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet..." Izuku stepped in, albeit a bit intimidated by this girl. "The Digimon have been nothing but helpful so far, so let's just hear them out, alright?"

Saiko aimed a rather icy glare at Izuku, easily getting him to jolt, but she did seem to quickly drop. "Oh, fine!" she relented, "I suppose there's nothing we can do beyond waiting for this Jijimon fellow anyway..."

Camie seemed to ignore the conversation, skipping over to Yui and the little candle following her. "And who's this cheerful dude~?"

"Candmon." Yui simply answered.

"Hiya! Nice to meet ya!" Candmon waved its gooey wax arm. "Labramon, you found your partner too!"

The dog-shaped Digimon nodded as it followed next to Camie. "Yes. I was very fortunate."

"So the only one left to find their partner is Alraumon..." the box-covered Bakomon added.

"A-And me! I haven't found mine yet!" Spadamon quickly interjected.

"Alraumon?" Izuku blinked, "You mean there's one more of you out there?"

Bakomon looked up at him and nodded. "Yes. She left at the same time we did, but she hasn't come back yet..."

"Oh no... like, do you think something might've happened to her?" Camie worriedly asked.

"The forest can be quite dangerous, but there shouldn't be anything around here that any one of us can't handle." Labramon said.

"That's great to hear!" Camie smiled, a lot more relieved as she petted Labramon's head. "You little guys are so dependable!"

Itsuka was also a bit relieved, but she noticed Izuku chewing on his thumb in thought. "Midoriya? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just..." he hummed, "It's just a theory of mine, but... all of us woke up in the forest, next to a Digimon, and-" he motioned at the device clipped to his pants, "With one of these on us, right?"

Itsuka and the rest of the group nodded.

"Then I don't think it's too much of a long shot to say these things might be connected... meaning, if there's still one Digimon out there..."

"Then there's one more student they're looking after!" Kyouka quickly pieced it together, Izuku nodding to confirm.

"If that's the case, maybe we should go try and find them. Just in case they need help." Itsuka said, which Izuku quickly agreed with.

"Eh!? You actually want to go back out there, and risk getting lost all over again!?" Saiko jumped in, "That's crazy! Look, the rescue team is more likely to check a village like this, so we should stay put and wait for them to come!"

"We don't all have to go; a few of us can stay behind in case help arrives." Izuku firmly said, clearly 100% committed to heading on search of the seventh student and the missing Digimon. The noticeable change in demeanor did seem to catch Saiko off-guard after how easily he was intimidated by her earlier.

"Midoriya's in Hero Mode now. You can't get his mind off of it once he gets like this." Kyouka explained, which did get Izuku to blush a bit even through his super-serious look. "So, what's the plan."

"R-Right!" Izuku quickly explained, "Even with our Quirk being weakened, Jirou-san's Quirk can still be useful in finding people; I have just enough of a boost that I can climb up trees to get a good look of the area around us."

"With my Quirk the way it is, I don't know how useful I'd be in a fight..." Itsuka lamented.

"Same." Yui plainly stated.

"Without tea, I can't access my brilliant Quirk." Saiko huffed, "I could probably figure out a way to get us out of here in no time if I could just get a sip..."

"Oh!" Camie raised her hand, "Maybe I could use my illusions as, like, a flare or something!"

"Alright, that works." Izuku nodded, "Myself, Jirou-san, and Utsushimi-san will go; you three, stay here in case someone who can help arrives. So, let's hurry up and-"

"KYIIIAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

A frightened scream pierced through the air, urging everyone to get their guards up and turn towards the forest. But for Izuku and Kyouka, that wasn't just an ordinary cry for help.

"That voice-"

"It's Ashido!" Kyouka quickly identified, just as they spotted a familiar shade of pink emerge from the bushes, running for dear life, as a small green creature with a purple plant on its head, large arms that resembled leaves but ended in three large claws, and stubby vine-like legs ran after her; no doubt the missing Alraumon.

As soon as this happened, Kyouka relaxed as a picture of Ashido Mina getting frightened by one of these Digimon painted itself. "I can't believe that girl..." she held up her hands, shouting: "Ashido! Relax! That thing is perfectly harmle-"

But then, a powerful gust of wind picked up coming from the forest, breaking apart several trees in the process. "Evil Hurricane!" an unfamiliar voice shouted, summoning another powerful hurricane forward that blew Mina and Alraumon off their feet, letting them tumble into the floor. And then from the destruction emerged a large oni-like shape, orange skin and clad in a tiger-print loincloth, with tiger-print armbands on each wrist, pierced ears and long grey hair. On his right hand he carried a large studded club, and his mouth was so large he never even closed it.

"GUWAHAHAHAHA! There ain't no use runnin', girlies!" the oni taunted as it stomped forward, "No one escaped the Howling Wind King!"

"That's Fugamon!" Labramon shouted as the vicious demon came into view.

"But Fugamon shouldn't be in the forest! His home's in the badlands!" Neemon said, but the question of why wasn't on any of the students' minds. Without hesitation, they all rushed towards danger.

"Stay here!" Itsuka shouted back at the Digimon, even as they could see the nervousness in her eyes at having to fight with a weakened Quirk.

"Hrm?" Fugamon took his eyes off the downed Mina and Alraumon, noticing the approaching kids. "What's this? Some friends you brought along? Good, saves me trouble of huntin' them down!" he raised the studded club before swinging it powerfully. "Evil Hurricane!" and launching a powerful gust of twisting winds towards the approaching students.

Izuku knew this was no time for half measures, and since his Quirk was weakened anyway, he did something that under any other situation was crazy. One For All 100%! his body crackled with pure power as he rocketed ahead of the other students, charging directly towards the raging winds as he spun his body around and raised his foot. He'd only just started training this technique during the camp as everyone practiced towards their Provisional Hero License Exams, it could easily fail and blow up in his face, but he knew it'd be the only way to stop Fugamon's attack. "Shoot Style: Manchester Smash!" he swung his leg down with a powerful axe kick, cleaving through the wind and dispersing it harmlessly before it could reach the others.

"W-What!?" Fugamon was clearly taken aback by this, giving the students just enough time to reach Mina and Alraumon. Camie and Kyouka knelt down to help, Izuku and Itsuka standing in front to shield the others from Fugamon, while Saiko and Yui stayed behind them just in case they needed to move the injured at a moment's notice.

"Ashido! Ashido, are you alright?" Kyouka lightly shook her pink classmate, who thankfully opened her tearful eyes.

"J-...Jirou...?" Mina was still a bit dazed, but other than a few scuffs, she seemed fine. "A-Alraumon... is she-?"

"She's fine, hun!" Camie answered as she already held the injured Digimon in her arm, Alraumon having one eye open as she smile down at Mina.

"Mina-chan... I'm so glad you're safe!" Alraumon said, which let Mina relax considerably. Unfortunately, that moment would pass very quickly, as-

"OI! So you brats have a trick or two up your sleeves; big deal! You'll be outta my way soon enough, and once I'm through with you, I'll raze that whole village to the ground too! GUWAHAHAHA!!" Fugamon cackled.

This only further cemented in Izuku and the others' minds that they had to put a stop to Fugamon no matter what. Izuku turned back, quickly shouting: "Get Ashido to safety! We'll hold him off as much as we can!"

Yui nodded her head and stepped closer, grabbing Mina to help her up. "My Quirk is useless here, as it is... I'll take her."

Kyouka nodded and handed the pink girl off to Yui. Camie then rushed to Saiko and shoved Alraumon in her arm.

"Wh- Hey, what's the big idea!?"

"Get her safe with the others; that's the idea, obviously!" Camie said with a light pout. "You said you can't use your Quirk without tea, right? Then you can't help as much as we can holding that ugly guy back!"

Saiko flinched, "Gh- H-How blunt of you! I'll have you know I have plenty of uses still thanks to my incredible intellect and strategic thinking, and I don't take kindly to-!"

"Just go already!" Camie hissed, which finally seemed to get Saiko to relent. With Mina and Alraumon in hand, the two girls quickly started heading back the way they came.

"Heavy Swing!" Fugamon shouted as he swung the thick bone weapon down on Izuku and Itsuka, both quickly jumping out of the way of it. As soon as Izuku landed, he immediately sprung towards Fugamon, landing a clean kick on the side of the Digimon's large head. Fugamon grunted and stumbled a bit, but he didn't seem too hurt by the attack. "Pesky little-! Evil Hurricane!" he quickly whipped up another gust of wind towards Izuku, catching the boy as he was in the air and blowing up a few feet away.

Itsuka took advantage of Fugamon's distraction, growing her fists as much as she possibly could to gather enough strength before delivering several blows to Fugamon's torso. Unfortunately she had to quickly step back, as the oni Digimon swung its arm witout any sign of pain to try and smack her away. Fugamon turned his attention to Izuku, raising his weapon to strike at her, only to suddenly be swarmed by a few dozen tiny and crude scribbled devils that hovered around his face.

"Wha- The heck are you!? Get lost! Beat it!" Fugamon swatted at the tiny devils, the illusion quickly dissipating and giving him a good look at Camie who was closeby. "That was your trick, wasn't it!? When I get my hands on ya, I'll pulverize ya!" he swung his club down, Camie quickly jumping out of the way as the bone punched into the dirt beneath.

Seeing an opening, Kyouka rushed in and let her Earphone Jacks extend, stabbing into Fugamon's arm to hopefully let her heartbeat vibrations be enough to get him to drop his bone club. Unfortunately, Fugamon swung his arm too quickly, smashing his forearm against Kyouka and sending the girl falling back with a shout.

"JIROU!" Izuku shouted as he got back to his feet after a rough landing, and immediately dashed as fast as he could towards Fugamon with his fist reared back. But again the oni Digimon was too fast, swinging his club and managing to catch Izuku in midair with the thinner part of the club, tossing him aside like an annoying fly. When Itsuka then tried to approach from behind, Fugamon stuck a foot back and caught her with a firm kick, also sending her down to the ground.

As they mad etheir retreat, Saiko suddenly stopped as she heard the cries of pain coming from behind them, looking back in fear. "I-It's hopeless! We're just too weak, a-and there's nothing we can even hope to take advantage of!"

Yui also stopped to look at her, her otherwise cold expression turning into a frown of concern for the others, but try as she might she couldn't think of any way to help them.

Further ahead, at the edge of the villaing, the other six Digimon watched in horror at how badly the fight was going.

"Itsuka... Itsuka is fighting..." Dracomon said with shakiness in her voice, but then her eyes grew more determined. "Dracomon can't stay behind while her partner fights!" she then dashed ahead, wings flapping furiously even if she couldn't actually lift herself off the air.

"Dracomon! Wait! It's too dangerous for us!" Neemon shouted.

"No! She's right!" Labramon said, "We must protect our partners!" before he too ran forward towards Fugamon.

"Haaaaaahhh! I'm burning up just sitting here! I won't let any harm come to Yui!" Candmon shouted as he jumped as fast as he could towards the heat of battle.

"I'm scared, b-but I have to protect Intelli-san too!" Bakomon soon followed the others as well.

Spadamon seemed to hesitate for just a moment, his eyes fixed on Izuku in the distance as he struggle to get up yet again. The lion clenched his teeth and fists, "What sort of knight would I be... if I didn't defend those in trouble!" and let out a warcry as he charged ahead towards the enemy too.

Neemon flinched as everyone rushed into battle. "Y-You guys are crazy, you hear me!?" but he paused and let out a groan, "I knew this whole business would be nothin' but trouble... OH, ALRIGHT! I'M GOIN', I'M GOIIIIIIIIIIN'! HYAAAAAAAAHHHH" until he finally dashed behind them with fearful tears in his eyes.

As the Digimon rushed past Yui and Saiko, Alraumon quickly jumped off Saiko's arms to join them in their rush. "I won't stand back and let Mina-chan get hurt either!"

"Eh?" hearing the commotion, Fugamon turned his attention to the charging Digimon. "More annoying flies!?"

Reaching the oni Digimon, Dracomon opened her mouth, unleashing a small burst of fire towards him. "Baby Breath!"

Labramon reached second, immediately barking: "Retriever Bark!" sending a vibrating ball of air as a projectile towards Fugamon, both attacks forcing the foe to raise his arm and shield himself.

"Nemesis Ivy!" Alraumon's large claws stretched from her hands, wrapping like vines around Fugamon's right arm.

"Gum Roll!" Bakomon tossed duct tape from inside his box sleeves, wrapping them around Fugamon's other arm, both Digimon then pulling on them to try and hold the larger Digimon in place.

"Gah! You pesky bugs! I'll kill all of ya!" Fugamon shouted as he began pulling against Alraumon and Bakomon. But before he could free himself-

"Bonfire!" Candmon jumped up and spat a fireball straight into Fugamon's eye, getting the larger Digimon to cry out in pain.

Seeing his opening, Spadamon dashed closer to Fugamon and summoned a small sword with a blue light to his hand, slashing it in quick succession to scratch Fugamon's face. "Blue Brave!"

Fugamon let out another shout of pain, the combined atacks actually forcing the oni down to one knee. With his head closer to the ground, Neemon rushed in with a fierce look on his face, stopped right in front of Fugamon and turned his back, sticking out his backside before- "Gassed Off!" letting out a deadly fart right into Fugamon's large mouth.

"WAAAGH! THAT'S DISGUSTING! PTHOO! PTHOO!" Fugamon cried out, "I've had enough of you twerps!" but he then quickly stood back up, swing his arms wildly with immense strength to throw Alraumon and Bakomon away. "Evil Hurricane!" he then swung his club to whip up another gust of wind, blowing away Labramon, Dracomon, Neemon and Candmon.

Spadamon stabbed his blade into the dirt, holding himself down against the strong winds. Once they cleared, he held his sword as he glared at Fugamon. "You won't get away with this, you monster!" he charged at Fugamon again, swinging his sword with a wild cry.

"Heavy Swing!"

Only to cry out as Fugamon slammed the bone club on top of him, forcing the lion back to the ground.

"Pfeh!" Fugamon spat, "You little pests should've just ran away when ya had the chance! But don't worry, I'll make your death quick!" he raised the club high above his head, before slamming it straight down on Spadamon. The force of the attack shattered the ground beneath it, but- "Huh!?" Spadamon wasn't there anymore.

Spadamon slowly opened his eyes, seeing Izuku's pained face just above him as he lay in his arms. "Wha-... y-you..."

"You again!?" Fugamon grunted. "Just lay down and die, ya brat! I promise, I'll make it painless!"

"I won't stand down!" Izuku quickly shouted back. "No matter what... I won't! Because Heroes... Heroes always save those who need help!"

Spadamon's eyes widened, seeing the sheer determination on Izuku's face. Even as he was hurt, even after the way he had acted towards him... he was willing to go this far just to save him? "A... hero...?"

Fugamon just scoffed. "Suit yourself, kid! When you're dead, you won't have to worry about that anymore!" raising his club as he drew closer, Fugamon cackled. "Heavy Swing!"

Spadamon closed his eyes as he suddenly shouted- "IZUKU!!" and felt his body heat up immensely.

And then, a light shone, coming from the small device Izuku had. A light so potent it actually momentarily blinded Fugamon to halt his attack. Yet somehow, Izuku didn't feel the need to close his eyes; the light just felt... natural, somehow. He then looked down at the Digimon in his arms, Spadamon's whole body beginning to glow that same vibrant light. Izuku's eyes widened as Spadamon leapt from his arms, standing between him and Fugamon.

And then, Spadamon's form began growing...

"Spadamon, Digivolve to...!!"

The glowing shape grew larger than a horse, taking on a four-legged stance. The tail split into two, as a wild braided mane grew out, two hooped earring appearing on each ear. Sharp claws at the end of each paw, and a fearsome face emerged from within the light. Spadamon had transformed into something; something wild and far more powerful than before!

"LIAMON!!" the giant lion roared proudly, standing imposingly before an flabbergasted Fugamon.

"W-W-What-what-what-what!? What just happened!?" the oni exclaimed, visibly growing frightened. "HEY! Y-You can't just transform like that! That's not fair!"

Liamon let out a low and threatening growl. "You, who so callously pick on those weaker than you, dares talk about what's fair?"

Fugamon flinched, only growing more nervous. "W-Well... uh.... y-you see...!"

"Your evil ways end here!" Liamon roared as he swung a clawd paw, smacking Fugamon to the ground in a single swipe.

Fugamon let out a pained screech as he fell, quickly scrambling himself back to his feet. "W-Why you...! You think you're a bigshot now that you gained a couple pounds!? Well, I'll show! I'll cut you down to size! Evil Hurricane!" Fugamon sent out another vicious gust of wind, but much to his horror, Liamon held his ground. "Wh-What...!? Impossible...-!"

Liamon glared at Fugamon before pouncing on his foe, slamming into the oni Digimon with immense power and throwing him further back. Crackling electricity then began gathering around Liamon's mane as he stood back up, before roaring out: "Thunder Of King!" unleashing a powerful bolt of lightning from his mane that aimed straight for Fugamon.

The oni Digimon shrieked as he failed too get out of the way in time, being struck by the lightning that blasted him and sent him flying through the air. He landed with a heavy thud by the forest's entrance, and very slowly and painfully dragged himself back to his knees. "Y-Yoouu... I-I'll pulverize-" but another powerful roar from Liamon made the oni jolt to his feet in fright. Fugamon clenched his bone clube tightly... then immediately turned tail and ran right back into the forest. "Th-... Th-... THISAIN'TOVERYOUHEARMEYOU'LLALLPAYFORTHIIIIIIIIIIIS!!"

As soon as Fugamon disappeared, Liamon's body began to glow once more before it shrunk drastically in size. The glow dissipated, leaving behind a tired-looking Spadamon who dropped down to sit on the floor with a heavy sigh. "Phew..."

Izuku was, at first, frozen in awe what what had happened, but as soon as Spadamon became visible again, he immediately rushed to his side. "Spadamon! Spadamon, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah... I just... need to catch my breath, is all..." Spadamon said between gasps.

"Midoriya!"

"Spadamon!" the other students and Digimon quickly approached them with concern on their faces.

"You guys... are you alright?" Izuku asked, knowing full well that Kyouka and Itsuka in particular got hit pretty bad.

Thankfully they seemed fine, both nodding to assure him of that. "We're OK. You look way worse for wear than us." Itsuka said.

"Spadamon! Spadamon! That was so cool!" Dracomon jumped around excitedly.

"You Digivolved... you really Digivolved!" Candmon said with just as much excitement in his voice.

"I-...I did...?" Spadamon blinked wearily, still a bit dazed.

"H-Hey!" Saiko shouted as she and Yui approached, Mina following them as she looked able to walk again. "Wh-What in blazes just happened!? How did that tiny thing turned into that huge thing- What was that!?"

"That, young ones..." a voice carrying many years behind it caught everyone's attention as it drew nearer. "Is all the proof we need..."

Everyone turned to see what looked like a very short old man, with a lot of hair on his head, his fringe and beard completely covering up his face, oversized feet, and carrying an old staff with an ornament shaped like a cat's paw on top of it.

"Ah! Jijimon!" Neemon said, getting everyone else's attention.

"Jijimon?" Camie repeated.

"That's Jijimon?" Kyouka asked.

"Proof? Proof of what?" Saiko, meanwhile, kept focusing on her own question.

Jijimon stepped closer, paying close attention to Izuku. "Proof... that the legends were indeed true... seven humans, sent here at a time when our world needs them the most... wielding the Sacred Devices that hold the power of Digivolution... yes, you are, without a doubt in my mind... the Chosen Ones!"

The old man's words only raised more questions among the group. And the way he spoke instinctively told them there was much more going on around them than they could possibly imagine.

The adventure was only just beginning...

Chapter Text

"Alright, old man, let's hear it! Where are we, and how did we even get here in the first place!" Saiko quickly demanded to know.

The group of students, along with their Digimon, all gathered in the center of the small village along with Jijimon, its tiny inhabitants now free to continue their carefree and playful lives around them as the danger had passed.

Kyouka quickly gave Saiko a slight dirty look at the girl's lack of manners. "Calm down, will ya? We all want to know this stuff, but you don't have to act like that towards the one person who might actually help us."

"No, it is fine." Jijimon assured the girl, "I understand. I'm sure you all have many questions, many of which I sadly may not have answers to. But I will do my best to offer whatever guidance I can."

"Well, I guess the obvious first question would be..." Itsuka said, "Where are we, exactly?"

Jijimon nodded before he answered. "You find yourselves on On Island, the smallest island of the Menu Archipelago. This is Dawn Village, a place where newly born Digimon can live and grow free of danger."

"On Island? Menu Archipelago? What are you trying to pull, old man!" Saiko immediately scoffed, "I've never heard of such names in my life! These certainly aren't Japanese islands, I can tell you that much!"

"Japanese...?" Bakomon blinked, looking up at Saiko. "Intelli-san, what does that mean?"

"Is it food? Is it tasty!" Dracomon asked as she enjoyed sitting on Itsuka's lap.

"W-What!? Surely you can't be serious!" Saiko exclaimed, "Japan! As in, the country! Surely you have to know what it is! You're speaking Japanese right now!"

Bakomon flinched, quickly looking apologetic. "I-I'm sorry, Intelli-san! B-But I've never heard of this place my whole life, and this is just how I always talk..."

"From our point of view, you're just speaking Digimon." Neemon said as he rested on his side on the grass, scratching his belly. "I don't know anything about this 'Ja Pan' place either; sounds kinda made up to me! I mean, what kind of name is 'Yes Bread' anyway?"

"Now you're mixing up four different languages!" Saiko yelled. "If this is some kind of joke, it's in remarkably poor taste to pull on a bunch of lost students!"

Camie blinked as she looked down at the dog-like Digimon at her side. "So, like, you guys really don't know where Japan is?"

Labramon just shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

"Hey! Hey, Itsuka! Do you come from Japan too? Is it nice over there?" Dracomon asked as she fidgeted with excitement in Itsuka's arms.

"Eh? Uhm, well, y-yes, it's pretty nice there." Itsuka answered.

"W-Wait! Wait!" Mina spoke up, "If nobody here knows where Japan is, then how are we supposed to get back? How far even are we from home!? What if we're, like, somewhere near Europe or something!?"

"L-Let's relax, everyone!" Izuku tried his best to reassure Mina, "Just because no one here knows about it, that doesn't mean there can't be someone out there who does! Surely Dawn Village isn't the only town around, right?"

Jijimon nodded. "I am deeply sorry I cannot be of any help in this regard. On Island is a small place; we don't get many news from the outside. Your best bet would be to travel to Main Island; there are many villages and towns there, so you may be more fortunate."

Saiko sighed in relief. "Thank goodness... as nice as it would be to get everything cleared up straight away, I suppose it is too early to start losing hope."

"That's right! That's the spirit, Intelli-san!" Bakomon cheered.

"So, which way should we be traveling?" she continued.

Jijimon aimed his staff as he answered. "Main Island is located to the East. You will come upon a beach, and be able to see the island from shore."

"Perfect!" Saiko clapped her hands together as she stood up, "Well then, we'll be off straight away! Thank you for your help, and-"

"W-Wait, Intelli-san!" Izuku spoke up, "Th-There's still a couple of questions I want to ask! Like... like, what did you mean when you called us the Chosen Ones? What's with this device we all have? A-And the Digimon! How do they know who we are? How did they find us, why do they call us their partners, and what happened to Spadamon earlier, he turned huge and- and-"

"Breathe, Midoriya!"

Izuku flinched and did as commanded, blushing a bit as he got himself caught in another word storm. "Th-...Thanks, Jirou-san..."

"You raise good questions, child." Jijimon nodded, "The Chosen Ones... they are an old legend. One every Digimon has heard of. A legend that speaks of seven holy heroes from a world beyond our own, who wield seven Sacred Devices to bring about salvation in our world's darkest hour." he aimed his staff at the small device Izuku had. "These are those devices. The Digivices. Holy relics of an ancient time, and proof that you are the Chosen heroes."

Mina blinked. "Chosen heroes...? I mean, I guess that's flattering, but..." she frowned, "We're not Heroes; we're just students! We don't even have our Provisional Licenses yet!"

"Jijimon-san, is it possible there may have been some mistake?" Itsuka asked, but the old man shook his head.

"There is no mistake, and what happened earlier proved it." he turned to look at Izuku, and Spadamon who sat down next to him. "What you saw back there was the power of Digivolution. The legends also spoke that the Chosen would battle alongside seven partner Digimon; that their bonds would unleash a tremendous power. The Digivices would allow their partners to grow stronger and stronger at an unprecedented rate. Spadamon would not be able to Digivolve as he did had he not found his destined partner. The same goes for all of your Digimon; before you arrived, they were but babies like those you see around you. But then, great lights appeared above in the sky, and they all Digivolved at the same time. The moment they transformed, they knew they were being summoned to take their place besides the Chosen."

Labramon nodded. "Jijimon has always told us of the legend of the Chosen. We grew up on them, each of us hoping to one day be selected as the Chosen's companions."

"Yeah! It sounded so super cool!" Candmon jumped, pumping up his fist. "We get to be Heroes! And, ZAPOW, help people and fight off the bad guys! Doesn't that sound awesome!"

"Mh." Yui said as she knelt next to her animated partner.

Izuku and the others couldn't help but chuckle quietly, as they could definitely see the parallels between Candmon's excitement and their own excitement over the years to do pretty much the exact same thing.

"OK, but what about the names?" Saiko asked instead of chuckling, "Because that's still a bit creepy, if you ask me!"

"That I cannot answer." Jijimon shook his head, "Perhaps it is the will of fate. Or perhaps they'd known from their very birth that they were destined to meet with you. I cannot say.

Mina let out a hum before she turned to Alraumon. "Do you really think it was destiny we got to meet?"

"Maybe?" Alraumon tilted her head. "I just know, when I saw Mina, it was like reuniting with a dear old friend right away!"

"It was the same when I met Intelli-san." Bakomon said.

"That's preposterous!" Saiko quickly huffed, Bakomon quickly flinching. "I've never met you in my entire life! I definitely would've remembered if I did!"

"I-I'm sorry, Intelli-san, b-but that's just the best way to describe it...!"

Izuku couldn't help but feel a bit in awe as he was explained all of this. His mind flashed back to that powerless young boy who so adamantly tried to convince himself he could one day become a Hero, and how a freak twist of fate allowed that dream to become a reality. But if what Jijimon was saying was true, was this really meant to happen? He was never really one to believe in fate or destiny or any of that, and he wasn't sure whether to start believing in it just yet either. He looked over at Spadamon, the tiny lion jolting when he realized and turning his head away to hide the light blushing over his cheeks.

"If you will head to Main Island..." Jijimon spoke, getting everyone's attention again. "Then you must head to Header Town. A dear friend of mine lives there, Babamon. She is very wise, and will surely be able to tell you more. I'm sorry I could not be of more help."

Itsuka quickly shook her head. "Just telling us where we can search next if help enough, Jijimon-san. Thank you."

"She's right. Thank you for all your help, Jijimon-san." Izuku agreed as he got back up, the rest of the group doing the same as they prepared to leave.

"Wait, so..." Kyouka said, "What about these guys?" she motioned at the Digimon. "Does this mean they're coming with us? But don't you live here?"

"Well, we kinda gotta, don't we?" Neemon said, "How're you guys meant to find your way around without someone who knows the area?"

"Besides, we must protect our partners after all." Labramon nodded. "There's no telling what dangers we may come across."

"You mean, like that Fuga-guy from earlier?" Camie asked.

Jijimon nodded. "Yes, there have been strange happenings on our once-peaceful island. Dangerous Digimon from Main Island have started appearing here, and we haven't received any news from the other island to find out what is going on."

"We'll be careful." Izuku said. "Thank you again, Jijimon-san."

"Guess we're off, then." Kyouka said, before-

"Chosen Ones." Jijimon spoke up again. "There are evil forces at work in this world... evil forces that have long feared the legend of the Chosen. You must be prepared, for they will surely strike against you..."

Fugamon took in deep gasps of air, as it felt like he had been running for hours. Finally he'd reached the exit of the forest, and found what he had been looking for: a phone booth standing in the middle of the wilderness. He rushed over to it, quickly squeezing his large frame into the small rectangular structure, and picking up the phone straight away to make his call.

"C-C'mon, c'mon..."

Click.

"Report."

"Ah-!" Fugamon straightened up as best he could inside the phone booth at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line, even doing his best to salute. "This is Mister Orange, reporting in, Boss Gray-sama!"

"Mister Orange. What have you found." the cold voice wasn't so much asking questions, but firmly demanding the answers.

"W-Well, you were correct, Boss Gray-sama! Those strange lights you mentioned seeing over On Island- it really was them! The legends were true! The Chosen have arrived!"

"Just as I expected." the voice didn't sound the least bit shocked. "Have they been dealt with."

Fugamon jolted, already beginning to sweat. "W-Well... I-I of course did just as you ordered! I fought against them with all my might! Even when they began using all sorts of strange tricks, I didn't back down! B-but then their partner Digimon got involved, a-and they all cowardly ganged up on me! I-I thought valiantly with every ounce of strength I had, b-but then one of them Digivolved! O-Of course, I still had the upper hand, b-but a cheap trick caught me by surprise! I had to make a quick decision, whether to fight until my very last breath, or retreat to warn you, Boss Grey-sama! W-While I would have gladly fought until I couldn't anymore for you, I-I made the tough decision to leave the battle, and come warn you right away!"

"...disappointing."

The simple but cold response didn't make Fugamon any less nervous. "B-But I can still catch up to them, Boss Gray-sama! I-I can take them all out in one fell swoop!"

"That won't be necessary."

"E-Eh...?"

"I had predicted you would need assistance, and sent Mister Yellow to intercept the targets should you fail."

"Y-...You did...?"

"We will let Mister Yellow handle the Chosen. You will make your way to Point Delta to assist Miss Purple with her mission."

Fugamon saluted the phone again." Y-Yes, Boss Gray-sama! I will head there at once! Thank you, Boss Gray-sama! E-Excuse me..." Fugamon gingerly hung up the phone and pushed himself off the phone booth with a lengthy relieved breath. "Agh, that was stressful...! My pride as a Digimon may be wounded because I can't go after those brats, but at least I don't have to work with that yellow creep... just take the wins where you can get 'em, Fugamon!" he then ran off, heading towards his next destination.

"Onwards, fellow Chosen heroes!" Mina yelled with a wide grin on her face as she confidently marched ahead of the group. "We have a world to save!"

"Yeah! Just Mina-chan, and everything will go alright!" Alraumon echoed as she followed Mina.

"...Ashido, you're going the wrong way."

Mina flinched and froze as Kyouka pointed out the mistake. "I-I knew that! I was just... making sure you were paying attention!" she then turned to the (hopefully) correct direction and continued her marching. The group had made it fairly deep into the forest already after having left Dawn Village, and according to the Digimon, they should be nearing the exit soon.

"You lot don't actually believe that whole 'Chosen' nonsense, right?" Saiko asked.

"What!? Why wouldn't we!" Mina argued, "I mean, we have our partners, our Digi-thingies-" she held up the Digivice clipped to her shorts, "Everything lines up!"

"Still, it is a bit hard to believe just like that..." Itsuka said.

"Can a bunch of students, like... even be legendary heroes?" Camie wondered aloud. "We don't even know yet if we'd make good Pro Heroes..."

"I believe in Camie's potential to become a great hero." Labramon said, quickly earning a happy cooing from Camie.

"Aww, you're so nice, Labra-kun!"

"Besides..." Itsuka spoke up with a bit more caution to her voice, "The way Jijimon was talking, it almost sounds like we're in a completely different world than our own... I'm really not sure how to process that..."

"Obviously you should just discard the possibility straight away!" Saiko huffed. "We're clearly just trapped on some nearly-deserted island, with zero modern infrastructure and no contact to the outside world, with a high percentage of Mutant-type Quirks! That explains everything, why they don't seem to know basic geography, the unique terminology; everything!"

"What about the wind turbine?" Kyouka asked.

"Or! Or how we can understand each other so easy!" Camie added.

Saiko flinched, her certainty visibly wavering. "I-...I-I'm sure there's perfectly logical explanations for that too! Just-...Just give me a minute to figure out what they are..."

"I-In any case, we should just focus on getting to Header Town." Izuku said, "Maybe we'll get a clearer picture there, right?" he looked at Yui, but all he got was-

"Mm."

Which didn't fill him with a whole lot of confidence.

"Maybe Babamon can tell me for sure who my partner really is." Spadamon said, arms crossed behind his head.

Izuku jolted a bit. "A-Are you still on about that... I-I'm telling you, I really am Izuku!"

"You're a Izuku, I'll admit to that, but I still don't know if you're my Izuku! I mean, you keep saying it: you guys don't exactly look like legendary heroes, right?" Spadamon clarified. "What happened back at the village could have just been a fluke, for all I know! I'm sure Babamon will clear things up for me once and for all!"

"I... guess I can't argue with that..." Izuku said with some uncertainty.

"Hey!" Mina called from up ahead, "The exit's right here! C'mon, you slowpokes!"

"Yeah! C'mon!" Alraumon echoed, urging the others to pick up their pace slightly.

Sure enough, they'd reached the end of the forest; it was impossible to think otherwise, given how drastic the change in scenery became. The trees and grass ended abruptly, replaced by reddened dirt and rocks, with craggy hills dotted all over. It was like they'd stepped into an entirely separate biome that shouldn't exist anywhere in the forest's vicinity! And speaking of things that shouldn't exist in the vicinity-

"Hey, look!" Camie said, "Vending machines!"

Kyouka blinked in confusion as Camie dashed off ahead. "Vending wha-" and sure enough, just as Camie had said, straight ahead were a whole bunch of vending machines, dotting the various hills and mounds of this new place they were in.

"Just what is this place..." Itsuka said, more than a bit confused.

"So? How do you explain this, Miss Know-It-All?" Mina taunted Saiko before she too dashed away with a giggle, leaving Saiko at a loss to what to even say.

"Guys, there's no point getting too excited; it's not like these machines are even going to work." Itsuka tried to be the voice of reason, until-

"Fuwaaaa~!" Camie's more than pleased sigh was heard, as she enjoyed a nice refreshing can of soda, so cold that one could see the moisture dripping down its side. "That's the stuff~!"

"Wh- B- HOW!?" Itsuka jolted, "How did you even get that!? Did you bring money with you?"

"Nope!" Camie giggled, "I just pressed the button, and it popped out!"

"Yeah, it totally works!" Mina backed up the other girl, holding up the can of iced tea she and Alraumon had.

"A-Are you two mad!?" Saiko yelled, "Even if these things work, we have no possible way of knowing how long these have been sitting here! All of these beverages might have gone bad by this point!"

Mina just shrugged as she took a sip of her drink. "Tastes just fine to me! And it hits just the spot after all this heat!"

"Mina-chan's right, this feels great!" Alraumon said.

"We have been walking for a long time. Maybe we should just take the opportunity to rest?" Izuku suggested.

"No argument from me." Kyouka said and made a straight line to the vending machines, "Is this just drinks, or is there anything to eat?"

"Just drinks, it seems, but there's so many machines I can't even say for sure!" Mina answered as Kyouka set out to explore.

Itsuka still looked uncertain together with Saiko, but as everyone else scattered to get something to drink, Dracomon tugged at her pants.

"Itsuka! Itsukaaa! I'm thirsty! Let's drink!"

"Eh? W-Well... alright, let's find you something, Dracomon." and she walked off with Dracomon to inspect the vending machines.

The group took the opportunity to just relax, enjoying the shade that the vending machines offered as a shield from the Sun. Upon further inspection, it seemed like the vending machines really were nothing but beverages, but beverages of practically every kind: while no brands were listed, the buttons were only labeled by what kind of drink there were. After some searching, Kyouka decided to just go with a diet coke for herself.

"What do you have there, Neemon?" she asked as she saw Neemon choose something from the next machine over.

The Digimon picked up his can, opening it with a pleased sigh. "My favorite. BBQ-flavored soda!"

Kyouka flinched, staring at Neemon in bewilderment as he gulped down the beverage. "Th-...That can't be real...!" she tried very hard not to think about how disgusting that sounded, and just tried to focus on her own drink. She did notice Saiko finally wander over to the vending machines and pick out something for herself, although the way she was squinting so hard as she looked at the buttons made it look like she was having a bit of a rough time for some reason. "You need any help there?"

Saiko squeaked with a jolt, quickly stuffing something back into her waistcoat before she waved her arms at Kyouka. "N-No! No! Of course not! I-I know exactly what I want, a-and it's... it's this!" she quickly pressed a button, confident that she'd nailed it.

"Pipping-hot coffee?" Kyouka read out loud, "Are you sure that's what you want in this weather?"

"..." Saiko remained frozen, trying hard not to start sweating. "B-But of course! Ha-Have you never heard of the power of mind over matter? Overcoming the heat is elementary for one who is in full control of their body! Why, I barely feel this heat you speak of at all because I am capable of tuning it out through the sheer power of self-suggestion!"

"Wow! That's amazing, Intelli-san!" Bakomon cheered.

Kyouka and Neemon though, they didn't seem all that convinced. "Right... well, enjoy your coffee, I guess..."

"I think the heat's already cooked her brain; it's too late for her." Neemon said as the two walked away to find some shade.

Saiko kept up appearance until they were away, before she let out a lengthy exhale. "Ah-! You! Bakomon!" she quickly turned to the box Digimon. "You're willing to do something for me, correct?"

"Eh? Well, of course, Intelli-san! Anything for you!"

"Good! I need you to find me a machine that sells canned tea. I haven't had to rely on canned tea to activate my Quirk in years, but dire circumstances demand dire solutions! You can do that, right?"

"Of course, Intelli-san! But, why do you need my help for that?"

"B-Because... th-that's... l-look, aren't you supposed to be my partner!? What does it matter what my reasons are when I'm asking you!"

Bakomon jolted a bit and quickly bowed. "Ah-! You're right! You're right! I'm sorry, I-I'll get on it right away!" the Digimon then quickly rushed away to find some tea.

Elsewhere- "Dracomon, don't drink too fast! It's very cold." Itsuka warned.

"OK, Itsuka!" Dracomon giggled as she sipped on her drink.

Itsuka smiled warmly, then focused on her classmate nearby. "Kodai-san, be careful up there!"

The quiet girl looked back at her, her and Candmon having climbed up a somewhat steep mound to get to a particularly fancy-looking machine. "Mm." was all she responded with.

Itsuka sighed, still having no idea what to make of that girl even after half a school year of being in the same class.

"Kendou-san!" Izuku called to get her attention as he drew near, "Here you go, I found one with water."

Thank you, Midoriya-san." she gratefully took the cool can of water, "Sorry I made you get it; I wanted to stay close to Dracomon."

"You don't have to apologize, I was originally going to look for water too, but..."

Itsuka tilted her head slightly to red the text on Izuku's can. "Orange juice?"

"Y-Yeah, I don't know why, but... I just really started craving for it when I saw it..."

Itsuka giggled a bit as Izuku blushed, then looked down at the lion at his side. "What about you, Spadamon? What did you get?"

"Lemonade!" Spadamon said as he held up his can. "It's the best!"

"Hey, hey~! You guys~!" Camie called as she and Labramon approached. "Hey, you have to, like, try this coke! It's so goooood!"

"Really? What is it?" Itsuka and Izuku leaned in as Camie held out the can.

"...whipped-cream..."

"And candy flavored...?"

"It's so super-yummy!" Camie beamed a brilliant smile. "It's like drinking cotton candy!"

Izuku and Itsuka shared an awkward glance, and very politely declined the offer.

Elsewhere, Mina let out a lengthy, refreshed breath as her and Alraumon rested against a cool vending machine. "Ahhh... y'know what, this ain't half bad at all! It almost feels like a little mini-vacation from training camp, huh?"

Kyouka sat nearby and raised her eyebrow. "You know we're still lost, with no clue how to get back home, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know that!" Mina said, "But, c'mon, we were stuck working to the bone back at the camp! We wouldn't be able to just relax like this over there!" despite her best attempts, Kyouka didn't seem swayed to see things her way, but before the conversation could continue-

"AH-HA! I've got it!"

Mina, Kyouka and their Digimon blinked, looking at Saiko as soon as she approached with Bakomon.

With a confident gleam in her eyes, Saiko aimed a finger at them. "The wind turbine! That was an abandoned project to build a wind park on this island, before it was found out it was inhabited!"

"Oooh." Mina said.

"I... guess that could happen?" Kyouka said.

"As for these vending machines, obviously they must have washed up here from the ocean, and someone brought them all here for their growing collection!"

"I haven't heard of anyone who collects vending machines, but I guess everyone has their thing, right?" Mina said as she looked at Alraumon, who nodded.

"...wait, does this mean we're drinking stuff that's been in the ocean for who knows how long?" Kyouka frowned.

"I don't know about that; this doesn't smell too fishy for me." Neemon cackled.

"Well, how about the language stuff then? What's you answer for that?" Kyouka asked.

Saiko chuckled quietly as she took a sip from her can labeled green tea. "Quite simple, actually! Languages are an ever-evolving thing, derived from many older languages that change and adjust over time. Much like modern English can trace its roots to Old Norse, which itself can be traced to Proto-European languages, so too does Japanese have its own connections to older forms of our mother tongue. Clearly this island's native language has taken many of the same inspirations as Japanese did, thus creating by sheer coincidence, a language that is nearly identical to Japanese!"

"Has... has that ever happened before...?" Kyouka asked, clearly still skeptical of Saiko's speculations.

"Wow! That's cool!" Mina said, a lot more willing to buy into it despite only half-understanding what Saiko had just said. "You seem pretty smart, Intelli-chan!"

Saiko scoffed, but clearly smirked at the compliment. "I do not 'seem'; I am! I'm at the top, not just of my class, but the entire Seiai Academy! Even without using my Quirk, my intellect far surpasses the common riffraff!"

"So, does your Quirk make you smarter, or something?" Kyouka asked.

"Certainly doesn't make her any humbler..." Neemon commented.

"That is correct!" Saiko said with pride. "By drinking tea, I increase my brain's analytical abilities to allow me to predict every possible outcome of any situation!"

"Wow, that sounds great!" Mina said, "I know I could sure use a smart Quirk to help with my test scores. Oh, so do you have a limit? Could you get even smarter than Principal Nedzu with your Quirk?"

"The only limitation of my Quirk is that the level of boost is equal to the quality of the tea I drink. The better the tea, the better my Quirk works." she held up her can, "This is simple green tea, and processed one at that, so the boost is rather small, but still effective."

"Oh, are we sharing?" Camie said as she and the other approached. "Like, a lot of us don't really know one another, right?"

"That's a good point." Izuku said, "If we're going to have to travel together, maybe it would be best if we know what each of us can do. Just in case."

"Oh! I'll go next! Me next!" Mina raised her arm and waved it. "I'm Ashido Mina, from Class 1-A at UA High! My Quirk lets me create acid from my body!" she held her hands together, before squirting out a weak stream of acid from between her fingers. "Although, since I woke up here, I can't burn through anything. So really, I've been demoted to making slippery goo."

"I'm sure it's the strongest slippery goo around anyway!" Alraumon said, as the other Digimon looked on with interest at Mina's Quirk.

"That seems to have happened to everyone." Itsuka sighed. "Well, I'm Kendou Itsuka, from UA's Class 1-B. My Quirk allows me to increase the size of my hands, boosting my strength in the process. But now..." she tried to grow her hands, but only got them up to twice their usual size. "Normally I'd be strong enough to lift one of these vending machine with no problem, but not like this. I feel like my Quirk's regressed to my time in elementary school..."

"Itsuka is still the strongest! Dracomon just knows it!" Dracomon cheered.

"Kodai Yui." the quiet girl introduced herself. "1-B. My Quirk..." she demonstrated it by having the can of sparkling water in her hands shrink to half its size. "Size."

"Woah! So cool!" Candmon said as he witnessed Yui's skill, the other Digimon also looking rather impressed.

"If everyone's doing it..." Kyouka straightened herself up. "Uhh, Jirou Kyouka. Also 1-A.  My Quirk's Earphone Jacks; these things, obviously..." she said as she raised the jacks coming from her ears. "It lets me pick up sounds and vibrations across anything I stick them to. They also let me use my own heartbeat as a weapon, if I plug them into some speakers."

Neemon hummed. "Well, I bet gossiping can be very easy when you can just hear what's going on in the next room by-NYEHEHH!!" Neemon flinched as Kyouka jabbed one of the jacks on him.

"I can also send my heartbeat into people's bodies this way." she concluded.

"Neemon can be smart, but sometimes he just doesn't know when to stay quiet." Labramon commented.

"Well, uhm... I guess it's my turn; I'm Midoriya Izuku, also from UA's 1-A. I have a superpower-type Quirk, letting me boost my strength and durability. Normally, I can only access to a small percentage of my power, or else I risk seriously damaging my body, but since coming here, it feels like my Quirk's full potential drastically weakened. At best, I can maybe operate at 8% of my full power."

"How much would you full power be?" Spadamon asked, much to Izuku's surprise.

"Oh, uh, well... that's kinda hard to say-"

"He took out a giant 100-meter tall robot to get in UA." Kyouka said, which got Izuku to flinch.

"W-What- But- How-!?"

"Ochako-chan told the story~!" Mina giggled. "That was very brave of you, Midori!"

Izuku only blushed harder, trying to focus his attention on anything else other than Mina. He did catch Spadamon staring at him with a slightly skeptical expression, but the lion didn't seem like he had any further questions.

"Me next~!" Camie happily sung. "Utsushimi Camie, but like, just call me Camie! I insist! I'm a second year at Shiketsu, and totally psyched to get to know all of you!"

"Well, at least it's good to know I'm not the only second-year here." Saiko said.

Mina chuckled lightly. "I guess that makes you guys our Senpai!"

"Huh... I guess it does!" Camie giggled. "Oh, as for my Quirk..." she took in a short breath, before exhaling a subtle pink smoke from her mouth. The smoke danced around the group, before creating little floating scribbles of each student and Digimon gathered, earning a lot of impressed noises from the others. "I create illusions! But, like, they look all gonky now, but I swear I'm way better on a normal day!"

"It's still really cute, Camie-senpai!" Mina said as she poked at the tiny Scribble Mina before the illusion wore off.

"Do all humans have powers like these? Do they, Itsuka?" Dracomon asked, looking up at her partner.

"Well, pretty much. It's more common for people to have Quirks than not, although it wasn't always that way."

"Yui's home sounds like a really interesting place!" Candmon said with a hop. "Are there lots of strong guys there too?"

Izuku nodded. "Absolutely! And the strongest end up taking a job as Pro Heroes, who put their skills to protect everyone!"

"And, if I understand what you said earlier..." Labramon hummed, "All of you are training for that same job, correct?"

"That's right!" Mina answered with a grin, "We're all still learning how to become Pro Heroes, and we were all in a camp to train extra harder! Because if you want to be a Hero, you can't rest on your laurels! you have to constantly be willing to push yourself, or as our school motto says, you need to go Plus Ultra!"

Alraumon clapped as she laughed. "I bet Mina-chan is already a great Hero! She tried to defend me against that big bully, Fugamon!"

"Hehe~! Well, I don't like to brag, but I'm pretty good among my class!" Mina chuckled.

"...didn't your parents basically force you to sign up because of your grades, Ashido?"

Mina flinched at Kyouka's brutal honesty. "Sh-Shut up! That doesn't change what I said!"

"Hmm... sadly, I cannot find an acceptable pattern..." Saiko mused out loud. "If someone was looking to kidnap a bunch of UA students, then why would myself and Utsushimi be targeted? But on the other hand, if the targets were simply those from the training camp, why are most of you first years? Why risk kidnapping the more experienced second years? It just makes no sense."

"It could just not have been a kidnapping." Kyouka shrugged. "Not sure why you're so hung up on that."

"Because what other explanation is there!" Saiko said, "Think about it: we could very well have been transported here via a teleportation Quirk! Perhaps the kidnappers made a mistake, and dropped us off somewhere they didn't intend to!"

"What if it was an accident?" Camie asked while raising her hand. "Like, I knew this kid, in kindergarten, he couldn't teleport things but he could make them fly way up in the air by breathing on them. And one day we found all of the tables in the classroom were stuck on the roof because he had a cold, and kept sneezing all the time!"

"So your suggestion is that a kindergartner was at the training camp for whatever reason? How is that any less crazy than my theory?"

"Well, there was a cute little tyke with the Pussycats! The one with the horns on his hat?" Camie quickly said. "He looked kinda gloomy, but maybe he did it!"

"Didn't that kid punch a boy in the-..." Itsuka stopped herself before she actually said, coughing awkwardly. "D-Didn't he attack someone when the camp started?"

"Mm-mm." Yui nodded to back up Itsuka's claim.

Izuku flinched, already feeling the weight of humiliation creeping up on him. He could feel the amused looks on Mina and Kyouka's faces, as the only ones who knew the truth. "K-Kouta couldn't have done it!" he spoke up, "H-His Quirk's shooting water from his hands, not teleportation!"

"How do you know that?"

"Well... there was a bit of an incident involving a member of our class-"

"A dastardly little goblin called Mineta!" Mina hissed. "Kouta-kun protected us from his nefarious deeds! He was a real Hero that night!"

"A-Anyway, he took a nasty fall, and I quickly took him to the Pussycats." Izuku continued, "They explained to me he was the son of the Pro Heroes Water Hose."

Saiko blinked. "Wait... I recognize those names. Weren't they killed in a Villain attack two years ago?"

Izuku nodded. "Sadly, yes... that's why he's so... well, gloomy, as Utsushimi-senpai put it..."

"Whaaaat?" Camie gasped. "Oh, now I just want to hug him even harder! The poor thing! That's, like, definitely the first thing I'll do when we get back!"

"If." Yui plainly said, getting Itsuka to flinch.

"C-Come on, Kodai-san, thinking negatively isn't going to help."

Neemon stood up from where he was, stepping closer to Camie with his arms wide open. "I'm available as a hug-replacement, Camie-chan! Don't be shy, I really don't mi-HAYEE!"

Only for Kyouka to stab him again with her jack. "If I find out Mineta was meant to have you as his partner and not me, I'll be angry but not actually surprised."

"Neemon, you need to start acting with more sense." Spadamon chastised. "You're the oldest one here, so you need to be responsible!"

"I-I don't remember signin' up for the job of responsible one..." Neemon grumbled as he lay on the floor, as the rest of the group tried their best to keep their snickering at a minimum.

"Well, I'd say this has been plenty of rest!" Saiko said as she stood up from the rock she was sitting on.

"Aww, just five more minutes!" Mina whined.

"Intelli-senpai's right." Izuku nodded. "We should get going so we can reach the beach before sundown."

"Aww... fiiiiine..." Mina pouted.

"Cheer up, Mina-chan! I'm sure we'll get plenty of chances to rest!" Alraumon said, which did get a grin out of Mina.

"Alright, alright... but where do we put these cans anyway?"

Itsuka blinked. "That's a good point... we shouldn't just leave them outside..."

"Oh! That's simple!" Camie jumped up to her feet. "I saw a dumpster just over that mound over there! Gimme your cans; I'll take 'em all there for you guys!"

"Really? Thank you, Camie-san." Itsuka said as she handed over her empty can.

"Yeah, much appreciated." said Kyouka as she did the same.

With her arms filled with empty beverages and many thank yous from everyone, Camie still beamed like a star with a wide smile. "No problemo! A senpai has to look out for their kouhai, don't they?" and with a playful skipped, she set off towards the mound. Truthfully, there was another reason she had volunteered, as when she reached the very top of the mound, she simply threw all of the cans into the dumpster, letting them loudly ring out in a symphony of can smashing against can against steel. Sometimes you just had to appreciate the little things in life.

"Hm?" but then Camie blinked, seeing something from her heightened advantage point. "Hey, guys? Someone's coming over!" this got the group's attention, who were quick to run over to the mound so they could get where Camie was. And, sure enough-

"Is that..." Itsuka blinked.

"A bear?" Kyouka finished the thought, seeing the bipedal bear-like creature heading towards them. It was quite large, with a big round belly and round face with beady black eyes; it almost looked like a snowman, except one made out of mud and dirt.

"Ah-! It's Tsuchidarumon!" Dracomon excitedly exclaimed as she jump, wings fluttering despite them not being able to hold her aloft.

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Tsuchidarumon

Level IV

Type: Mutant

Attribute: Harmonious

A Digimon whose body is mostly made out of earth! Though it dislikes battle, it is much faster than it looks. Its special move, Rock To Mud, shakes the ground with a heavyweight punch!

------

"Tsuchidarumon? Is that a bad Digimon too? Should we hide!?" Mina asked, quickly growing nervous.

Neemon was the last one to climb onto the hill, with some difficulty, but still raised an eyebrow. "Can you even hide with that shirt?" he motioned at Mina's garish multi-colored acidic-patterned shirt, filled with bright yellows, greens, blues, and nearly every other color in the rainbow.

Spadamon shook his head. "There's no reason to fear at all. Tsuchidarumon is a kind and noble Digimon."

"He bring treats to the village sometimes!" Candmon said with a wide smile. "He's really nice, and just as strong too!"

"He must live nearby somewhere." Labramon added.

Camie blinked. "If he lives around here, does that mean this is his vending machine collection?"

"Could be?" Labramon tilted his head, not sure if that was the case, but he couldn't really rule it out either.

Tsuchidarumon kept wandering closer, arms hanging limply at his side and a vacant stare in his simplistic face. And then, he bumped into a vending machine, the Digimon being a good head or two taller than it. "RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!" and he let out a furious shout, raising an arm and smashing a giant fist down to utterly crush the vending machine in one single blow.

The group atop the mouth jolted with yelps in surprise, which unfortunately, only served to get Tsuchidarumon's attention. The mud bear raised its head, aiming a furious expression and a dangerous glare their way, before letting out another angered scream. His footsteps struck the ground hard as he started running towards the students and their Digimon.

"Everyone, r-run!" Itsuka called out, but just as she did, Tsuchidarumon was raising his massive fist once more.

"Rock To Mud!" the rampaging Digimon yelled out, slamming his mighty fist into the earth below, causing it to quake and shatter, stone and dirt shifting violent until it reached the mound the Chosen were standing on, completely collapsing the structure in a thunderous sound, muffling out their shouts of shock.

As the cloud of dust cleared, Izuku was getting up as he coughed, trying to quickly assess the situation. He could see the others, they seemed fine, just a bit swamped by dirt and stuff, but no serious injuries. Unfortunately, he could also see the large black shadow approaching them in the dust cloud and heading straight to the person closest to it- "CAMIE!!"

In a split second, One For All coursed through his body at is maximum output. Izuku shot out like a bullet, sweeping Camie right off the ground before Tsuchidarumon's large fist crashed into the earth. Camie opened her eyes to see her and Izuku flying over the large mud bear, sparing a quick glance at Izuku himself, before she focused on something else. Before she could speak though, Izuku had landed, placing Camie on the ground. "Get somewhere safe, Utsushimi-san! I'll get the others-!" was all he told her before he dashed off again.

The green bullet flew straight towards Tsuchidarumon this time, slamming his shin as hard as he could against the side of the Digimon's head. This worked to get his attention off the others, but unfortunately, it only got its attention on Izuku. "RRAAAAAAAHHH!!" Tsuchinarumon let out a loud cry as it swung its arm much faster than Izuku would have anticipated for such a clumsy-looking beast, grabbing the boy by his outstretched leg. Tsuchidarumon swung Izuku around like he was weightless, swinging back then slamming him down against the dirt strong enough to leave an Izuku-shaped imprint on the floor.

"MIDORIYA!" the others shouted, getting up and preparing to jump right in to help him.

"I-Izuku! Spadamon cried out, and jumped in front of all of them, summoning his sword. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM! Blue Brave!" he swung his sword as hard as he could, but Tsuchidarumon quickly swatted the small Digimon aside with his other arm. Spadamon cried out and collapsed on the floor, struggling to get back up. "D-Dang it...! Why can't I-... why can't I Digivolve again...-!"

"Baby Breath!"

"Bonfire!"

Dracomon and Candmon stepped in front of Tsuchidarumon, launching out their fire to put a stop to the rampaging Digimon. All it seemingly did was make the monster even angrier, as it let out another howl of rage.

"Kendou-san."

"Eh?" itsuka blinked, hearing the quiet but distressed call next to her. "Kodai?"

"Throw this." the girl handed something small and green to her.

"This is..." Itsuka's eyes hardened, quickly realizing her classmate's plan. "Got it!" she took the object, growing her hands for extra power before she hurled it straight towards Tsuchidarumon.

As soon as it flew over him- "Size." Yui pressed the pads of her fingers together, causing the dumpster to grow back to its original size, slamming right into the large Digimon with all its weight, and forcing the mosnter off its feet.

"We did it!" Itsuka shouted, "We need to get Midoriya out of- " but the celebration time was very short.

Tsuchidarumon very quickly pushed himself back to his feet, raising a fist while furiously shouting: "Rock To Mud!" Tsuchidarumon slammed his fist into the ground, cracking it and shifting it, a wave of mud and rock erupting from the earth to wash away Dracomon and Candmon, and forcing forcing Itsuka and Yui to retreat. Grabbing Izuku again by his leg, the mud Digimon slowly approached the remaining Digimon and students, growling quietly but strained.

"A-A-!" Mina could barely get out a word, tripping over herself and landing on the floor.

"M-Mina-chan, I'll protect you!" Alraumon stood in front of her, arms raised to shield her from Tsuchidarumon's rage.

"Tsuchidarumon, why are you doing this!?" Labramon shouted. "This is not like you! Stop!"

Tsuchidarumon let out another crazed howl as he raised his fist. "Rock To M-GNAAAAAHHH!!" before its screaming turned more pained. The others looked on in confusion as Tsuchidarumon let go of Izuku as he cried out in pain, stumbling backwards its his arms raised above his head. The Digimon began flailing, clearly in pain, and only when it turned around did they see-

"CAMIE!" Labramon shouted.

The girl was hanging off from Tsuchidarumon's back, gripping on to something on the monster's back. But Tsuchidarumon violently swung itself around, throwing her off of himself and down to the floor. Tsuchidarumon let out a strained growl as he turned to Camie, letting out another howl as he raised his arms to crush Camie beneath them.

"Camie!" Labramon yelled again, feeling his body grow increasingly warmer, until a light shone, brighter than any other light, coming from the Digivice on Camie's jacket. The sheer power of the light forced Tsuchidarumon to step back, and yet, but Camie and Labramon, the light didn't hurt. It was warm, it was good, and it filled them with power.

"Labramon, Digivolve to...!"

The light washed over Labramon, completely engulfing him before his form began to grow. The thick coat of fur grew shorter as his four legs grew long and muscular; his ears turned thinner, no longer drooping down the sides of his head, but swaying backwards as his tail shortened; a thick spiked metal collar appeared around his neck, four blades emerging on the back of each of his legs. The light dissipated, revealing a black and brown coat of short fur, two menacing red eyes not only on his long head, but also on his forelegs.

"DOBERMON!"

Camie's eyes widened at the large hound that dashed to her, tackling Tsuchidarumon away as it did so. "L-...Labra-kun...?"

The former Labramon, Dobermon, stood before Camie to protect her. "I humbly ask that you do not lay another hand on Camie!" he growled towards Tsuchidarumon.

Tschidarumon glared at the giant dog Digimon, letting out another strained howl as he wildly swung his arms, smashing the vending machines around it.

Camie saw this, and quickly yelled: "Labra- I mean, Dobermon, or whatever! His back! There's something on his back!"

Dobermon glanced back at her and nodded, just as Tsuchidarumon began his charge towards him. "Grau Lärm!" Dobermon let out a mighty howl, the air shimmering from its power as it overwhelmed Tsuchidarumon, the rampaging monster crying out in pain as it stumbled blindly, turning around just enough for Dobermon to get a clean look at its back.

"There!" Camie pointed, letting Dobermon notice the small circular object piercing into Tsuchidarumon's back.

"Understood!" Dobermon jumped to the side to get a clear shot, shadowy energy gathering inside his powerful jaws. "Schwarz Strahl!" he unleashed the energy in a black beam of energy, blasting at the object stuck to Tsuchidarumon's back. The mud Digimon let out a pained cry as the energy exploded on his back, smoke billowing out from where it did. A short few seconds after, the black object emerged from the smoke, bug-like wings flapping as fast as they could, the circular object with a lengthy spike on its front flying high into the air, and disappearing in the distance in short time.

Tsuchidarumon stumbled forward before collapsing onto his knees, his breathing strained but slowly growing more stable. "Wh-...What-...What happened..." he blinked wearily, slowly looking around. "What did... I do...?"

Camie let out a relieved sigh, just as Dobermon was washed with light once more, shrinking back down to the more familiar form of Labramon. "Camie! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you, Labra-kun!" she happily said, quickly picking up the dog Digimon into her arms for a hug.

"I-Is it safe now...?" Mina cautiously asked, while Alraumon and the rest of the Digimon still kept their guard up.

"Midoriya!" Itsuka quickly ran over to where Izuku was, "Are you OK?"

"Y-Yeah... I'm-... I'm fine... had worse..." he nervously chuckled as he sat back up with Itsuka's help.

"Oh dear... oh dear, oh dear..." Tschudarumon said as he stood back up, "What have I done... I am so, so sorry, everyone!"

"Sorry!? Oh, you better be after that horrid show!" Saiko huffed.

"Tsuchidarumon, what happened?" Bakomon asked.

"I-...I'm not sure..." the large Digimon shamefully admitted. "I just... suddenly felt so angry! L-Like... like everything around me, I just had to destroy... oh dear, it was awful! Th-There's just no excuse!"

"That's not true." Camie spoke up, "Seems pretty obvious that weird bug was the cause of this, right? I mean, I get it, I get pretty peeved when I get a nasty bug bite too! Yuck!"

"Thank you so much for rescuing me from such an awful situation... really, with all my heart, thank you!" Tsuchidarumon bowed as low as he possibly could to display how sorry he was. "I know! There are many medicinal plants that grow around here; please, allow me to handle all of your injuries! It is the least I could do."

The following few minutes were much less stressful. Nobody was seriously hurt, but thanks to Tsuchidarumon's ointments, the scrapes and bruises hurt a lot less than they normally would.

"I truly, truly am sorry!" Tsuchidarumon said yet again as he finished helping Izuku.

"I-it's fine, Tsuchidarumon-san! Really, you can stop apologizing!" he tried to assure the mud giant. "Nobody got seriously hurt! Water under the bridge a-and all..."

"What was that think stuck on his back, anyway?" Kyouka asked, hoping the Digimon might have some answer.

"No idea." Neemon shrugged. "Didn't look like any Digimon I'd ever seen."

"Well, whatever it is, it's gone, and I'm thankful for that!" Mina huffed, "Tsuchidarumon's not such a bad guy after all! He really is like a big teddy bear!"

"Ahh, you'll make me blush!" Tsuchidarumon rubbed his head in embarrassment. "But, I'm sorry, I must ask... why are you so far from the village?"

"We're heading to Main Island to meet with Babamon." Bakomon explained. "We were just resting here before you showed up..."

"Main Island?" the mud Digimon hummed. "I see. Well then, this still won't make up for anything I did, but..." he raised his arm, pointing to the distance. "If you keep going ahead, the terrain only becomes rougher. You should head that way; you'll come across a road that's going to take you straight to the beach. It's much faster."

"Ooh, that's surely very helpful!" Labramon smiled, "Thank you, Tsuchidarumon."

"Yes! Thank you so much, Tsuchi-kun!" Camie said, only getting the mud giant even more embarrassed.

A few minutes passed to allow the injured to get enough rest, until the group was ready to leave. They waved their goodbyes to Tsuchidarumon, heading off towards the path he had pointed them to...

Chapter Text

Just as Tsuchidarumon had told them, the group had soon come across the road that would lead them to the beach. After everything they'd seen up to this point, Izuku was almost expecting to find an actual modern concrete road, but it was actually made out of impressive stonework instead. The scenario around them had also shifted, from an earthen waste to a sleepy country road, the sides of which were dotted with tall and skinny trees.

"Absolutely remarkable!" Saiko exclaimed, actually taking some time to study the road beneath their feet, "There's no doubt in my mind: this is definitely built in the style of an Ancient Roman road! Ashido-kun may very well have been right; we could be somewhere in Europe, or at least, close enough. Perhaps an island on the Mediterranean Sea? Tell me, is Malta a name you would be more familiar with? Or Sicily? Ibiza?"

"Seriously, you're making up all these words, aren't you?" Neemon asked as he glanced back at Saiko.

The girl huffed, aiming an annoyed look at Neemon. "No, I most certainly am not! Ugh... there's over thirty countries in the Mediterranean Basin, any one of them that could have influenced your names for any nearby territories..."

"And do any of them have any connections with Japanese?" Kyouka asked. "That was your theory from earlier, right?"

Saiko frowned, feeling like the girl was needling her on purpose. "N-Not that I'm aware of, but that doesn't mean it's impossible!"

"The only nearby lands we know of is Main Island." Bakomon said.

"Hey, what if we're in the Nansei Islands?" Mina proposed, "Maybe the Amami Islands?"

"Amami?" Alraumon asked.

"It's a place in Japan." Mina explained. "South of Kyuushuu, so it's way down there!"

Saiko's frown remained, not taking too much stock in the proposal. "If that were the case, we'd have either heard the Amami accent by now, or just the Amami language outright, in which case we wouldn't be able to understand each other at all! Not to even mention that they would have definitely hear about Japan, and it most certainly wouldn't explain how we're on a genuine Roman road."

"Hmm... Maybe it's just a really isolated island somewhere?" Mina said, "Maybe they just forgot!"

"...they forgot about Japan?" Kyouka flatly asked. "Are you just hung up on this because you wanted a vacation in the Amami Islands?"

"Maaaaybe a little?" Mina giggled.

Saiko sighed. "Even if I were to take that seriously, that still doesn't explain the Roman road."

"Maybe the Romans got here first?" Mina wondered, which only got Saiko to give her a flat stare.

"That's preposterous! The Romans never got anywhere near Japan!"

"How do you know? Where you there, Intelli-senpai?" Mina stuck out her tongue at the other girl, who bristled at the comment.

"Why you-! I will not stand idly by and hear you make a mockery out of History with your-"

"La la la, I'm not listening~! La la la~!" Mina sung as she covered her ears while Saiko continued to argue against the pink brick wall.

Itsuka looked at the back of the group, chuckling a bit nervously. "Things are pretty lively back there..." she then looked to the girl walking at her side. "How about you, Kodai-san? Are you alright?"

"Mh."

"If you start getting tired, you can just say so and we'll stop for a rest."

"Mh."

"O-Or thirsty! We did bring a few cans of water in Intelli-san's bag! Don't be shy about asking!"

"Mh."

Itsuka awkwardly groaned, still having no idea how to even begin speaking to Yui. "Uhh... well, Candmon? How about you? Do you need anything!"

"Nope!" the candle Digimon answered with a wide smile. "As long as Yui is fine, I'm fine! The heat doesn't bother me at all! In fact, I wish it was hotter! Way hotter! That's how you get tough! Right, Yui? We can handle anything that's thrown at us! If we cant, we'll just get stronger! So strong that I can Digivolve! In fact, I think I'm Digivolving right now! Ha-hah! I bet I'll be next! I'll be next, won't I, Yui!"

"Mh."

These two couldn't be more different from each other... Itsuka thought to herself with an awkward chuckle.

"Itsuka! Itsuka!" Dracomon jumped, "Do you think Dracomon will Digivolve too?"

"Eh? Oh, well... probably!" Itsuka smiled down at the tiny dragon.

"Yay! Dracomon will grow big and strong! Big and strong to protect Itsuka!"

"Oooh! Dracomon, we should train together!" Candmon excitedly said. "We'll train our bodies to their very limit until we can both Digivolve!"

"Yay! Yay! Dracomon will train! Train hard for Itsuka!"

Spadamon's ears twitched as he heard Dracomon and Candmon get excited over Digivolution. He quietly grunted, keeping his arms crossed as he silently walked. He couldn't help but think back to the fight against Tsuchidarumon, and how he wasn't able to Digivolve again. Did he do something wrong? Or was he actually right, and the first time was just a fluke? When he looked over at Izuku... the latter option seemed more and more likely.

Because Midoriya Izuku wasn't chatting or paying much attention to what happened around him. He was currently as red a ripe tomato, slowly disintegrating on the inside our of sheer embarrassment as he tried hard to keep himself together while Camie, once again, infiltrated his personal space. She stared intently at him, her head nearly resting on his shoulder, but her hair definitely brushing his shoulder which only made her current proximity even more real along with practically feeling her breath on his neck oh no oh no-!

"U-U-U-Uts-s-sushimi-senpai, y-y-you should b-be careful and watch th-the road...!" Izuku barely managed to squeak out. While his speaking-to-the-opposite-gender skills had most definitely evolved, the same could not be said about dealing with cute girl standing this close to him.

"Hmmm..." Camie kept her large eyes focused on him as she hummed. "Don't think I will~! Not until you say it."

"U-Utsushimi-senpai, p-please, I c-c-can't say it...!"

"Why not? You said it earlier, didn't you?" she leaned in even further, "Right before you saved my life! So, like, what's the difference?"

"I-I-I just wasn't thinking back then! I-It's totally different!"

Labramon blinked as she watched this battle of wills unfurl. "Camie, what is it you want Izuku-san to say?"

Camie finally gave Izuku some space, pouting a bit as she explained. "My name, obviously!"

"I'm confused..." Labramon admitted, "Is Utsushimi not your name?"

"Well, yeah, but it's my family name! Like-" Camie then paused and blinked. "Huh... come to think of it, I guess Digimon don't have family names, huh? Actually... do you even, like, have families?"

Izuku jolted a bit at Camie's blunt forwardness. "U-Utsushimi-senpai, t-that's-..."he wasn't even sure what to say, only giving Spadamon a worried look.

"The village is our family." the lion simply answered, which was probably the best answer Izuku could have hoped for.

"And... none of you mind being so far away from it...?" he asked, still a bit worried about them.

"Not at all." Labamon answered. "We're still together, after all. And together with Camie and the others, we are never alone."

"Awww! That's so adorable!" Camie quickly swooped up Labramon into her arms. "You're like the little bro I never had, Labra-kun! I promise we'll be never be apart!"

Izuku couldn't help but smile at the display, quickly noticing Camie was someone who wore her emotions on her sleeve.

Spadamon meanwhile glanced at Izuku, a look of uncertainty crossing over his face. But rather than dwell on it, fate thankfully had given Spadamon something else to focus on.

"Hm?" Spadamon's ears twitched as he heard a rustling coming from the bushes. "Something's coming!" he yelled as he got on guard, summoning his sword to be ready to attack at a moment's notice.

The rest of the group stopped when they heard him, just as the rustling grew louder, which did get many of them on guard straight away. The rustling only increased, now plainly visible just ahead of the group as something drew nearer and nearer, until finally, a bright pink flower walked out from the vegetation, soon followed by several more.

"Wait..."

"Don't those look like-"

"They look just like Alraumon!" Mina said, as the group of creates walked out into the road in front of them.

Alraumon quickly nodded her head. "Those are Palmon! We may look similar, but we're actually pretty different!"

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Palmon

Level III

Type: Plant

Attribute: Harmonious

A reptile Digimon that evolved to take on the attributes of a plant. It buries its root-like feet on the ground to absorb nutrients. The flower on its head emits a sweet fragrance, that can change to a putrid stench depending on its mood! Its special move, Poison Ivy, entangles opponents with it vines!

------

"Ah-! Tanemon, too!" Bakomon noticed, the roughly-a-dozen Palmon being accompanied by five of those tiny green heads with plants growing on top.

"Maybe there's a Palmon village nearby?" Spadamon wondered.

Neemon quickly shook his head. "No, this many of them traveling together can only mean one thing. It's the Wide Falls pilgrimage!"

"Oh, well hello there, pardners!" one of the Palmon, seemingly the leader of the group, noticed them standing there and waved a hand. "Are y'all here for the pilgrimage too?"

"Actually, we're just following this road towards the beach." Labramon explained. "We're trying to get to Main Island, you see."

"Well, shucks, that's still the same way we're all goin'! You're more than free to join the troupe, if y'all wanted to!" Palmon said with a friendly smile on her face. "Safety in numbers and all; some mighty curious characters have been spotted 'round this island, and things ain't as safe as they used to!"

"You can say that again!" Mina said, "We've already been attacked twice today! It's terrible!"

"It does sound like a good idea to travel in large groups." Itsuka nodded.

"We can keep everyone safe thanks to Digivolution." Labramon said, which Camie quickly nodded.

"Yeah! We can totally, like, protect all these little cuties!" she quickly picked up one of the Tanemon off the ground to hug it.

"That's great! I've always wanted to go to Wide Falls!" Alraumon cheered. "Could we stop there just for a bit, Mina-chan? Could we?"

"I don't see why not!"

Saiko jolted slightly. "Hey, wait a minute! Don't go making decisions on your own! We should look into getting to civilization as fast as possible, not monkey about with sightseeing!"

"Come on, Intelli-san, there's nothing wrong with taking a quick rest every now and then." Itsuka reasoned, "We don't know how much longer we're going to have to travel, so there's no need to pointlessly tire ourselves out right now."

"What's Wide Falls anyway?" Kyouka asked, "Must be pretty important if there's a pilgrimage to it."

"Somethin' of the sort!" the lead Palmon chuckled. "It's an old story, but one worth retellin'." as the group resumed their trip, Palmon began to explain. "Y'see, long, long ago, this here section of the island was mighty dry and arid; practically a desert! In the hotter seasons, life for Digimon were mighty harsh without water or food, or even so much as a shade to sleep under! But then one day, they say, a mighty dragon from beyond the ocean flew over this island. They saw the hardships the Digimon here had to endure, and took pity on them. Usin' their mighty powers, the dragon shaped the island to get the waters from the west hills to flow through here, creatin' Wide Falls in the process. The water from the falls brought life to a once empty wasteland, and all the Digimon cheered gratefully for the miracles given to them. The dragon then flew back into the sky, never to be seen again, but the Digimon continued to express their admiration for the dragon's deeds by traveling to Wide Falls every year, and enjoy the bounty it offered us."

"Wow! So cool! So cool! That dragon sounds so cool!" Dracomon cheered.

"When the season's at its hottest, all sorts of Digimon travel there." Neemon explained. "It's a nice way to escape the heat, but there's lots of dancing, celebratin' and food!"

"Food...?" Spadamon's ears twitched.

Growl!

"..."

Everyone turned to the lion, whose face quickly turned bright red after his stomach made its not-so-subtle intentions clear.

"You sound quite hungry there, pardner!" Palmon chuckled much to Spadamon's continuing embarrassment.

"Come to think of it, we haven't exactly eaten in..." Izuku stopped. "A-Actually, I'm not sure when was the last time we ate..."

"Probably since last night's dinner." Itsuka said.

"Assuming we even still were at the camp last night..." Kyouka said. In truth, none of them really knew how long it had been since their last camp memories.

"Oh, y'all hungry then? Well don't you worry your little heads; this here place is burstin' with food!" Palmon assured them, "Just look around ya at the trees, and you'll find all sorts of tasty fruit!"

The group looked up, and sure enough- "Oh! Bananas!" Kyouka quickly spotted a bunch of them on the tops of the trees.

"There's some apples over there too!" Mina pointed.

Saiko looked a bit dumbfounded as she looked at the fruit. "B-But... how!? None of these are banana trees, or apple trees- they're the exact same trees, how are they giving different fruit!?"

"Who cares; it's food." Kyouka said.

"Itsuka!! Itsuka! Dracomon will get some for you! Watch! Watch!" the dragon bounced over to a tree, flapping her small wings as hard as she could. She jumped... and not very high. She tried again and again, struggling hard to keep herself airborne but to no avail.

"Let me, Dracomon!" Alraumon stepped up. "Nemesis Ivy!" the vine-like claws on his hands extended, wrapping around a banana cluster to easily pry it out and bring it over to her. "Mina-chan, come on and grab one for yourself! Everyone else can have one too, of course!"

"Thank you so much, Alrau-chan!" Camie cheered.

"Bonfire!" Candmon spat out two small fireballs towards the fruit's stalk, snapping the apple cleanly off their place to quickly hand one over. "Here you go, Yui! Nice and red; doesn't it look like it's on fire? Huh? It's the best apple around, I'm sure of it!"

"Mh." the girl quietly thanked(?).

"I can do that too I can do that too! Baby Breath!" Dracomon hopped over to another tree, blasting out a stream of flames... that fizzled out before they could get near the fruit. "Oh..."

A blur dashed past Dracomon, Spadamon jumping from tree to tree before cleanly slicing the fruit off the tree with his sword. He landed gracefully, catching the fruit as it then fell out. The others clapped at the display, which got him to try and hide his blushing face.

"I-I can do that too! Watch me, Itsu-KHWAH!" Dracomon squawked as she tried to jump against a tree, only to smack right into it.

"D-Dracomon!" itsuka quickly ran over, picking up the small dragon. "Just relax, OK? Let the others worry about picking the food."

Dracomon looked up at her, then watched as the other Digimon kept collecting more food, even the Palmon joining in. She slumped a bit in Itsuka's arms, looking disappointed at herself.

"Intelli-san, here!" Bakomon pried off the duct tape from an apple he'd picked before handing it to her.

Saiko took the apple and inspected it closely, a frown quickly forming on her face. "Th-This is covered in sticky tape residue! How am I supposed to eat this!"

Bakomon jolted. "A-Ah! I'm sorry, Intelli-san! I-I wasn't thinking! I-I'll climb up a tree and get another one right away!"

"Don't bother." Saiko scoffed, tossing aside the apple. "Ashido-kun, let me have one of those bananas, please."

"Hm? Oh, sure thing, Intelli-senpai! Alraumon?" she turned to her partner, who held up a banana for Saiko.

"Thank you." Saiko picked up the banana, inspecting it first. Aside from the orange color, it sure looked like a regular banana. Of course, red bananas did exist, but she wasn't so sure about orange ones like these. But as she felt her stomach start to squeeze, she figured it best to throw caution to the wind, and began peeling the fruit. "What the...?" only once she did, she found it to be nothing but peel, the banana itself missing. "How- How is this even...?"

"Mmmh~! So good!" Mina nibbled at the peel without a care.

"Try it, Intelli-senpai!" urged Alraumon as she tossed the peel into her mouth.

Saiko didn't look very pleased with this at all, but carefully took a little nibble from the peel. "...!" and blinked. It really wasn't half bad!"

"These apples are really juicy too." Kyouka commented, "It's like eating an orange or something."

"But ya just can't beat that taste, can ya?" Neemon giggled as he tossed the core of the apple up and into his mouth, swallowing it whole.

"Well, everything else about this place's been kinda strange so far; I guess it only makes sense the food is different too..." Izuku said as he chewed on a banana peel.

"How's your apple, Dracomon? Do you want it sliced?"

Dracomon jolted a bit. "Ah-! No, no, this is fine, Itsuka!" the girl smiled down at her before she focused on the road again while eating her own apple. Dracomon's shoulders sagged, her cheeks puffing out a bit as she looked down at her apple. If the others weren't here, Dracomon wouldn't have been able to get food for Itsuka... she thought to herself, lamenting her inability to help her partner. "...chomp!" she still ate her apple, of course.

The journey with the Palmon and Tanemon had been thankfully uneventful. With full bellies, everyone was ready to face anything that was coming to them with more positivity than ever!

Coming across a clearing in the area, the group was surprised to find a wide and deep ravine that cut the earth directly ahead of them.

"You have got to be kidding!" Saiko huffed. "That mud bear told us the road led straight to the beach! What is this!"

"Calm down, lady! It's alright!" Palmon chuckled as she assured her. "There's a bridge right over there; it's just a short hike to the side!"

"You mean that bridge?" Kyouka pointed.

"Why, yes, that's exactly- WHAT IN TARNATION!?" the Palmon shrieked as she noticed what Kyouka was actually pointing at were the charred remains of a suspension bridge. "Oh, no, how could this have happened!?"

"It... looks like it caught on fire, somehow." Izuku noticed, stepping a bit closer while being careful not to get near the edge of the ravine.

"Great! Just great!" Saiko threw up her hands.

"Think you could just make a bridge ourselves?" Alraumon asked. "Your Poison Ivy is just like my Nemesis Ivy, so maybe?"

Palmon shook her head. "The ravine is much too wide; we couldn't reach the other side." she looked back at her group, seeing them quickly lose morale. "Now, come on now, I don't wanna see them look on those faces! Nothin' lost here; we just gotta alter the course a little! We can walk around the ravine still; just gotta lift up the ol' belly weight, and hit the road again!"

"I guess we don't have much of a choice either..." Itsuka sighed, "Do you know the way, Palmon?"

"Darn tootin', I do!" she smiled at the tired group with confidence. "Unfortunately, it's a whole day's trip still, but it's the best hope we got."

"A whole day!?" Mina groaned, "Give me a break here!"

"So much for a shortcut, I'll say..." Saiko echoed the groan.

"C-Cheer up, Intelli-san!" Bakomon tried his best to keep positive. "It could always be worse, right?"

"How could it possibly be worse!?" Saiko bristled, getting Bakomon to flinch.

"A-At least we have an alternate route already waiting for us!"

"Bakomon's right, getting stressed out isn't going to make the journey any faster." Itsuka spoke up. "I get being upset, but the quicker we get on the road again, the faster we'll get to the beach."

Labramon walked up to Dracomon, telling her: "Itsuka-san seems to always be defusing tension when everyone's on edge. You have a very responsible partner, Dracomon."

Dracomon blinked and nodded, but her mind was clearly elsewhere. She looked at the ravine, only feeling more and more guilty. If she could just fly everyone across, then nobody would have to feel bad about taking a longer trip around it.

"Alright everyone! Round up, and let's get this show on the road!" Palmon called, "We've got a long trip ahead, but let's not let that stop us! We'll get to Wide Falls even if it has to be latter rather than sooner!"

Whether they liked it or not, the group realized this was their only choice. Everyone followed the leader Palmon as she took them towards the alternate route, but Saiko paused for a moment with a huff.

"Why must I be stuck on this wretched island..." she sighed, and noticed a rock sitting on the ground nearby. With a strong kick, she sent it flying right into the ravine just to let out some steam. It only kinda worked. "Let's go, Bakomon."

"Y-Yes, Intelli-san!" the box Digimon quickly followed her as they trailed behind the group.

And the rock kept falling down the ravine...

And falling...

Until- thunk!

It landed. And a low rumble could be heard echoing in the ravine... soon followed by a mighty screech that traveled the area, catching the group's attention.

"Wh-What was that?" Itsuka said as everyone turned around to look in the direction of the screech.

"it came from the ravine, I think?" Alraumon said.

Saiko, the one at the back of the group, blinked and looked behind here. Just as a giant black shadow emerged from within the ravine, causing her to jolt and shriek in shock. The shadow spread out its wide wings, its body crackling as if coated by black fire. Sharp yellow eyes glared in the group's direction as the monster screeched with a sharp-toothed beak, the massive bird bearing sharp talons on its feet.

"Wh-What is that!?" yelled Mina.

"A giant bird!?" Itsuka said, already on guard.

"A Digimon?" Kyouka wondered, which Neemon nodded at.

"It's Saberdramon!" he said.

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Saberdramon

Level IV

Type: Giant Bird

Attribute: Moral

A bird-like Digimon covered in black flames. It prefers to be alone, and will attack ferociously if disturbed! Its special move, Black Saber, strikes with the razor-sharp talons from which it gets its name from! It also stores pitch-black flames in its wings that it can then fire at an opponent!

------

"A-Any chance it's a nice Digimon like Palmon?" Mina asked.

"Saberdramon are loners who keeps to themselves. As long as we don't bother them, they should leave us alone. But the strange thing is..." Neemon crossed his arms in thought, "What's one doing all the way out here? Saberdramon flocks live on Main Island, not our island."

The group watched as the giant fire bird flew up into the sky, screeching furiously, but seemingly not paying attention to them.

"We should probably go and- ohnoguysit'scomingTHISWAY!" Izuku shouted as he noticed the giant bird turn around and swoop down on the group with a roar. Everyone quickly ducked, just narrowly avoiding getting sliced by the sharp talons on Saberdramon's feet.

Camie grunted as she raised her head when Saberdramon flew up. "What's his problem! We didn't do anything!"

"He's coming around again!" Neemon warned, seeing the bird Digimon make another turn.

"Camie!" Labramon shouted as he jumped between her and the attacking Saberdramon. "It won't let him get near!"

A light shone from Camie's Digivice, just as Labramon was engulfed in another brilliant light. His form grew, transforming once again into the much larger- "DOBERMON!"

"Ah-! Labra-kun, you Digivolved again!" Camie cheered, but quickly noticed the Saberdramon was quickly drawing nearer. "Dober-kun, watch out!"

Dobermon readied itself, standing his ground even as the other Digimon barreled down towards him. "Schwarz Strahl!" as soon as the giant bird was close, Dobermon shot out a beam of black energy towards it, forcing the Saberdramon to change directions to avoid it. Everyone braced against the powerful wind as Saberdramon flew over them again, before taking to the skies once more.

"Everyone, back to the woods! Get the Palmon and Tanemon to safety!" Izuku shouted, urging everyone to start helping the Digimon get somewhere safe by picking up the slower, more awkward-moving Tanemon and carrying them towards the treeline.

"Schwarz Strahl!" Dobermon shot out more energy up at Saberdramon, each one missing its distant target. "It's no use. It's too high up; I can't get a good aim on it."

"Do your best, Dober-kun!" Camie cheered on her partner.

"Utsushimi-san, you should get to safety." Itsuka rushed over to her as soon as the Tanemon were hidden.

"Eh? I'm not leaving Dober-kun alone!"

"Camie, it's alright." Dobermon assured her, "I'll keep Saberdramon's attention; the rest you must get to- oh no!" Dobermon noticed the flames surrounding Saberdramon's wings flare, before a rain of black fire was shot down towards them. "Camie! Itsuka-san! Watch out!" Dobermon jump in front of them, using his body to shield them from the fireballs thrown down. Dobermon let out a pained cry as the fireballs connected, exploding against his body and sending Dobermon falling down on top of the two girls.

"Utsushimi-san!" Itsuka quickly grabbed Camie by the wrist, yanking her out of Dobermon's path while she jump away too, the both of them avoiding being pinned down by the giant dog.

"Ah-! Dober-kun!" Camie didn't waste a second to rush over her partner as soon as she could and check up on him. "Dober-kun, are you alright!?"

"It's coming back down! Watch out!"

Itsuka heard Kyouka's shout, but it was too late as the giant bird was already barreling towards them. Itsuka moved before she could even think, jumping over Dobermon as she grew out her hands, and swung her fist to strike the bird Digimon on its face as it swooped down on them. The Saberdramon let out a shriek, stopping its dive with a powerful flap of its wings to hover above the fallen Dobermon and the two girls. But just as Itsuka was falling, it stuck out its foot, clasping its fingers around Itsuka to grab her.

"ITSUKA!" Dracomon shouted, hearing Itsuka yell as the Saberdramon took flight and lifted itself higher and higher into the sky. "ITSUKAAA!" Dracomon yelled out again as she flapped her wings as hard as she could, but not once managing to get herself off the ground.

The other's cries of distress only grew more and more distant as Itsuka was carried higher and higher. This was bad, but freaking out wasn't going to help her; she had to stay calm and try to think of a way out of this- Saberdramon had just let go of her, she was falling, she was falling from really, really high up, now was the time to freak out! Itsuke let out a loud scream as she saw the distant ground quickly grow closer-!

"ITSUKAAA!!"

With Dracomon's tearful cry, the radiant light beamed out from Itsuka's Digivice, as the same power overwhelmed Dracomon's entire body.

"Dracomon, Digivolve to...!!"

The warm light covered her completely, just as her body began to lengthen; her wings grew out into a majestic length as her arms and legs seemingly vanished from her body. The light vanished, revealing a lengthy blue serpentine body, powerful red wings, and a white carapace covering the top of a mighty horned dragon's fearsome head.

"AIRDRAMON!"

Taking flight, the dragon intercepted Itsuka's fall to save her, the girl quickly grabbing on to the mane on Airdramon's head out of sheer survival instinct. It took her a second to realize what had happened, opening her eyes to see her partner's transformation. "Draco...mon...?"

"Itsuka, hold on tight!" Airdramon said as she flapped her wings to gain more altitude, chasing after the Saberdramon just as it readied another attack. It flapped its burning wings, sending down more fireballs. Airdramon expertly swooped and swayed around the fireballs, before roaring out: "God Tornado!" launching out a tornado of blue flames to shield her and Itsuka from the rest of the flames.

Airdramon flew like a rocket, nearly slamming into Saberdramon as she flew higher and higher, before turning to look down at her opponent as she blocked out the Sun with her wings. "Spinning Needle!" with a powerful flap of her wings, Airdramon sent down dozens of blade-like air needles, each one cutting into Saberdramon's body as it let out a pained cry, falling down as it lost altitude, crashing hard against the floor, lifting up a large cloud of dirt and dust.

And from the cloud, a small winged sphere quickly flew out-

"Hey, look!" Kyouka pointed as that same bug-like thing from before hastily making an exit from the area, and flying off towards parts unknown. The Saberdramon let out a pained growl, slowly turning itself over and flapping its wings, taking flight away from its once-targets with its tail between its legs.

"It left..." Izuku muttered, "Do you think it was the same as Tsuchidarumon?"

"Mh..." was all Yui said, much to Izuku's slight awkwardness.

Airdramon descended, Itsuka waving her arm to get everyone's attention. "Guys, hop on! Airdramon's gonna carry us across the ravine!"

The dragon nodded, coiling her serpentine body as she landed, and lowering her head to let everyone on top of her, before taking flight once more.

Wide Falls was definitely a magnificent location, the powerful falls roaring loudly down into a large river. Abundant vegetation covered the area, filled with all sorts of exotic flowers and berries, giving the place a colorful and lively air. Helping that were all the various Digimon that happily frolicked along the river's shores and splashed along the waters, various Patamon and Gomamon, Betamon and Wormmon, and many others celebrated a very special location, and an ancient good deed told in legends.

"Itsuka! Itsuka, look!" Dracomon hopped on Itsuka's lap, "Doesn't that look like Airdramon's head? Huh?" atop the waterfall was a massive boulder whose shaped vaguely resembled the top of a dragon's head, water pouring out from its open jaw.

Itsuka hummed as she rested atop a rock. "It does, yes! I'd say so."

"You think the dragon from the story was an Airdramon just like me? Do you? Do you?"

Itsuka chuckled at Dracomon's enthusiasm. "Who knows? Maybe it was! The dragon was a hero to the Digimon who live here, and you're certainly my hero for saving my life!"

"Ha ha! Yay!" Dracomon cheered, happy to hear that. "Dracomon is Itsuka's hero!"

Mina let out a lengthy and relax exhale as she lay on the grass along with Alraumon. "Man, this place really is like a little piece of Heaven... I feel like I could just... nap the whole day away..."

"H-Hey, Ashido-kun, don't you dare fall asleep!" Saiko chastised, "We're only taking a short break! We've still got a beach to get to!"

"Yeah, yeah... just..." Mina lazily waved her hand, "Five more minutes... zzzzz..."

"Ashido-kun!"

"Let her sleep it out; you can splash some water on her to wake her up later." Kyouka said, resting against a tree in the shade, while Neemon already dozed off next to her.

"Yeah, like, just enjoy yourself for a little while, it won't kill ya!" Camie said as she sat at the river's edge soaking her feet, Labramon laying over her lap. "That girl can be, like, so wound up all the time, can't she?" she asked Yui who sat next to her with a rudimentary makeshift fishing pole and string.

"Mm-mh." Yui nodded, just as her string began tugging.

"Oh! Yui! You got one, you got one!" Candmon cheered and clapped when Yui pulled the fish out of the water.

"Nice one, Kodai-san!" Izuku also cheered as he sat nearby, but quickly turned his focus back on the device in his hand.

Spadamon, who sat a short distance away, noticed how carefully Izuku seemed to be studying the Digivice, but turned away as he closed his eyes to get some rest. He was sure that was all he needed before he could Digivolve again next time.

Chapter Text

"I told you we took too long!" Saiko huffed. "Now look! The Sun is about to set, and we're nowhere near a place we can sleep!"

While the day's warmth could still be felt, there was a pleasantly chilly breeze blowing through the air as the day came to a close, washing the area in orange and yellow colors. The stone road the Chosen had found themselves in had long ran out, leaving them following a beaten dirt path as they continued their journey.

"So? We'll just camp out; it's not that big of a deal." Kyouka said.

"Camp with what, exactly?" Saiko shot back, "We don't have any tents! Not even any sleeping bags!"

"And?"

"Let Nature be your tent, and your spirit of adventure your sleeping bag."

"Well put, Neemon-san."

"Thank you, Kyouka-han."

Saiko's expression only flattened at the two's back and forth, crossing her arms as she was decisively not happy with the thought of having to sleep in the dirt. "Oh! Wait a minute!" she hit her hand over a fist as she realized, "Bakomon! You utilize duct tape as your attack! Perhaps we can use that to build a makeshift bed with some branches and leaves."

"Ooh! I'd be more than happy to help in any way I can, Intelli-san!" Bakomon said, "That's a very smart plan of yours!"

This quickly raised Saiko's mood, as she smiled proudly. "Well, I've dabble a bit on survival techniques in preparation for the training camp! It never hurts to be too careful."

"I haven't camped outdoors, it must have been years!" Mina commented.

"I like to sleep outside during this time of year." Alraumon said. "It's just so much more comfortable!"

"Really? I guess I can see that... at least, if you don't have an AC, of course."

"Just bury your feet in the cold dirt and spread your petals; you'll feel the most refreshed you've ever been in the morning!" Alraumon cheered.

While Mina's expression flattened a bit. "Not all of us have roots for feet, you know that? I'm not putting my feet in dirt!"

"You could, like, just think of it as a mud bath!" Camie added with a light giggle.

"Do humans take mud baths often?" Labramon asked.

"Some do. It's, like, supposed to be really good for your skin! Makes it healthy and shiny!"

"Camie-chan's skin is very shiny." Alraumon commented, which Mina nodded.

"I bet Utsushimi-senpai spends a lot of time at spas and beauty salons, right?"

"Nope!" Camie answered Mina. "Never been to one in my life! I barely even use makeup, ya know!"

Mina jolted, nearly tripping all over herself. "Y-You're saying you're just perfect right off the box...!?"

"Midoriya-san." Itsuka spoke up to get his attention. "You've been staring at that thing since we left Wide Falls."

Izuku blinked, looking up from his Digivice. "Oh, sorry, it's just..." he held it up for her to see. "Here, look."

"Is that... a clock?"

The rest of the group walked closer, and sure enough, the screen in the center of the Digivice was showing the current time, 19:12.

"I thought these things didn't even work." Kyouka said as she picked up her own. "Mine's not showing anything."

"Mina either." said Mina.

"Mm." corroborated Yui.

Camie also checked her Digivice, smiling as she showed it off. "Hey! Mine works!"

"Mina too." Itsuka also said. "Do you think it's because our Digimon have transformed, and the others haven't?"

"It seems like the likeliest explanation." Izuku nodded. "But that's not all-" he pressed one of the buttons on the device, changing the display to show three blinking red dots near one another. "If I'm right, I think these might be your Digivices, Kendou-san, Utsushimi-senpai."

"So we can track one another with these things? Could be useful if we ever get separated."

"Assuming we can even get these to activate, that is." Saiko said as she poked at her quiet Digivice.

"That's easy; Saiko and Bakomon just need to Digivolve!" Dracomon cheerfully said.

Bakomon blinked, looking over at her. "That's a great idea, Dracomon! But... how do you Digivolve?"

"Oh, you know! It's just like... WABANG! And you Digivolve!"

"W-...Wabang...?" Bakomon tilted his head.

"Yeah! Try it! WABAAAANG!!"

"W-Wabaaaang!"

"WABAAAAAAAAAANG!""

"Wabaaaaaaang!"

Saiko stared flatly at the two screaming Digimon, before simply turning to Camie and Izuku. "I feel like your Digimon are capable of giving us straighter answers."

Izuku couldn't help but agree, looking down at the lion next to him. "Spadamon, can you tell us anything?"

Spadamon flinched, quickly turning away from the group. "O-Of course I could tell you! I did Digivolve, didn't I? It's just... it's like Dracomon said... it just kinda happened, a-and that's it!"

"Labra-kun, is that how it felt for you too?" Camie said, crouching down in front of her partner to pick up his front paws and shake them.

The dog Digimon nodded. "I'm afraid so, Camie. When I saw you in danger, I just felt my body become overwhelmed with an inexplicable energy. Before I knew it, I had Digivolved into Dobermon. I'm sorry, but that's the only way I can explain it."

"Wait... Midoriya was being threatened by Fugamon..." Kyouka said, "Utsushimi by Tsuchidarumon, and Kendou was dropped from the sky by Saberdramon..."

"That's definitely a pattern." Izuku nodded. "It seems like the Digimon transform when their respective partner's in danger. It's almost like Quirk Evolution, but in this case triggering a full-body mutation in another person's life or death situation, and once it's unlocked it can happen again as Labramon showed, so are these transformations triggered just by the desire to protect others, or maybe mumble mumble mumble..."

"Midori-kun's rambling again."

"It's been a while since last time." Kyouka said, both her and Mina nodding. Izuku soon realized people were staring at him, and he just shut his mouth while trying to hide his blush.

Neemon let out a light chuckle. "Guess I'll just have to make peace I'll never Digivolve then." he shrugged his shoulders, pointing a thumb at Kyouka. "I mean, just look at this mean mug! Does that look like the kind of face you want to rush over and help?"

Kyouka flinched, quickly raising her jacks as a threat. "You want to maybe rethink that line?"

"H-Hey, you should take it as a compliment!" Neemon explained himself, "I'm just sayin', with that scary, mannish face of yours, you'll never be in dange-EYEHK!" only to get stabbed right away when he failed to do so adequately.

As the group mulled over the information they'd gathered, Labramon's nose wiggled slightly. "Hm? I think... I smell the ocean."

"Eh?"Camie blinked. "Really?"

"We must be close to the beach!" Mina said.

"Then what are we standing around here for! Let's go!" Saiko took charge, quickly picking up the pace as they all headed down the dirt road. And sure enough, after only a few more minutes of walking, they'd arrived at a large beach, pristine blue waves gently crashing onto the golden sand.

"Wow! How does a place like this not fill up with tourists!" Mina commented.

"This island must be restricted to tourists, obviously." Saiko answered despite not really being asked. "Now, didn't that Jijimon fellow say we should be able to see Main Island from here?"

"Mm." Yui nodded, before pointing to direct Saiko's gaze further to the left. "There." Saiko turned, and sure enough, there was a rather faint but unmistakable outline of land at the very furthest point in the horizon.

"Aw, man! That's so far away!" Mina said.

"You couldn't really expect it to be a stone's throw away, I guess..." Kyouka sighed, while Saiko stepped ahead as she rummaged through her satchel, taking out a small compact telescope to look through.

"Hmm... judging from the distance, I'd say it would take about ten to fifteen minutes to cross this atop Dracomon's evolution. Less than that if she flies at top speed."

Mina blinked as she watched Saiko peer through her telescope. "Wow, you really did come prepared. What else do you have in that bag?"

"Just basic woodland survival gear: a compass; flashlight; Swiss army knife; a fire starter; two pairs of walkie-talkies..."

Kyouka stared, half impressed but also a bit confused. "What did you think training camp was going to be? It sounds like you were prepared to be dumped alone in the woods and told to figure out."

"...I-I mean..." Izuku frowned, "Isn't that kinda what the Pussycats did to us on our first day...?"

Kyouka and Mina quickly frowned as they were reminded of that sudden bus stop, being unceremoniously dropped into the forest along with the rest of the class, and told to find the campsite all on their own. "...yeah, fair enough."

Mina looked over to Itsuka and Yui. "Did they do that to you guys too?"

"I'm afraid so..." Itsuka sighed as Yui nodded.

"Alright, come on, let's not waste time dawdling!" Saiko stored her telescope and clapped her hands together. "Dracomon, if you'll please?"

The dragon hopped a bit. "Oh! Sure! Sure! Dracomon carry everyone across! Dracomon, Digivo-"

Then, a loud roar cut through the sky, as a portion of the sea seemed to rise up. Further out into the sea arose a blue sea serpent with a yellow head, two fin-like protrusions on the side of its head, roaring loudly as it swam across the gentle waters.

"Ah! Is that another Digimon?" Mina said.

"That's right." Alraumon nodded, "It's a Seadramon."

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Seadramon

Level IV

Type: Aquatic

Attribute: Harmonious

A sea serpent Digimon with a long body. It swims deftly through the water, constricting its prey with its powerful body. Its special move, Ice Arror, shoots frozen water like a rain of miniature ice spears!

------

"There's lots of Seadramon living in the ocean around the islands." Bakomon said.

Kyouka groaned slightly, already getting a bad feeling. "Let me guess, they're usually peaceful Digimon who would never hurt a fly?"

"Hah!" Neemon laughed, "Far from it! Seadramon are brutally territorial, and will attack anything that invades their turf without mercy! But, lucky for us, that turf's in the water, and we're safe and sound on dry land. It's got no reason to come near the beach."

Izuku hummed as he held his chin. "Still... it could cause trouble if we try to fly over it. What if it sees Airdramon as a threat?"

"Dracomon fight it! Dracomon not let it hurt Itsuka and friends!"

"I-I'm sure you could, but it would pretty awkward to try and fight while keeping all of us safe on your back, right?"

Dracomon blinked, quickly settling down as Izuku made a good point. "Oh, yeah..."

"It's fine, Dracomon." Itsuka patted the dragon on her snout, "We just have to wait for it to swim by, and it'll be safe to cross."

"It's like... kinda pretty, isn't it!" Camie giggled as she squatted, arms resting on her knees to watch the distant serpent out at sea. "This must be what it's like to see Nessie in person!"

"Nessie?" Labramon blinked, "Who is that?"

"Is it another friend of yours?" Alraumon asked.

"She's referring to the Loch Ness Monster." Saiko explained, "A ridiculous story about a dinosaur living in a Scottish lake. It's preposterous."

"Well, aren't we kinda looking at one right now?" Kyouka pointed out, Saiko quickly getting flustered.

"Th-There's a simple explanation for this! Animals with Quirks are not unheard of; this is simply a sea snake mutated by its Quirk!"

"Then, was the Saber-what's-his-face a mutated animal too?" Mina asked, which Saiko quickly nodded at with the utmost certainty.

"Naturally! We just happen to be somewhere with a large number of animals with Quirks!"

"Then, like..." Camie pressed a finger under her bottom lip as she wondered out loud, "Couldn't Nessie just be an animal with a Quirk too?"

Saiko flinched. "I-...I suppose that would explain things... b-but without concrete proof of its existence, it may as well not exist!"

"What if it has a Quirk that makes itself invisible?" Kyouka theorized. "That would explain why no one's ever caught it on film."

"That's-... I-..."

"Yeah!" Mina joined in, "Quirks explain everything!"

"N-No, they do not!" Saiko bristled, "A massive sea creature wouldn't be able to hide itself for this long on such a limited body of water! Besides, 'accounts' of the monster have existed for hundreds of years! Even if there ever was a Nessie, it would be long dead by now!"

"..."

"..."

"...what if-"

"Don't you dare ask about life-extending Quirks! You're just giving an imaginary monster every power under the Sun for even the slightest scrap of believability!" Saiko huffed, turning around to take a deep breath and calm her nerves. "Isn't that thing gone yet!? How much more time is it going to waste!"

"It looks like it's starting to swim away." Itsuka said. "It shouldn't be that much longer."

As much of the group took a seat on the sand to wait, Izuku was still carefully watching the Seadramon in the distance. It was unlike anything he'd have ever seen, so he couldn't help but be a little awestruck at it. Whether it really was some kind of sea monster, or like Saiko said, a mutated animal, it was still something that sparked the imagination for him. "Intelli-senpai, can I borrow the telescope just for a bit?"

Saiko blinked, but had no issue lending the item, quickly digging it out of her bag and handing it over.

"Thank you." Izuku took the telescope, eager to get a closer look at the massive finned serpent. Up close, it looked incredibly fierce, but no less majestic in appearance. But then, Izuku blinked, noticing something. It was rather small, about the size of a football, with rapidly-buzzing wings and a large spike at its front.

"That's-...!" Izuku's eyes widened, recognizing the strange metal bug as being the same type of thing that had flown off Tsuchidarumon and Saberdramon. The metal bug flew to Seadramon, stabbing its long syringe-like spike right into the sea serpent's back, urging the monster to let out another louder, more furious roar

"U-Uhm... guys?"

As Izuku spoke up, the sea serpent had begun violently thrashing in the water, quickly catching everyone's attention.

"Woah, what happened to it?" Kyouka asked.

"It's one of those bugs! Those thing we saw on Tsuchidarumon and Saberdramon! I-It just flew up to it and bit it!"

Labramon's eyes narrowed as he watched the Seadramon flail wildly. "This cannot be a coincidence... Tsuchidarumon was acting strange because of the same thing!"

The Seadramon roared towards the sky, stretching out its body out of the water before heavily letting it fall back down, splashing a large wave of water upwards. Soon after, another wave began rising, charging at high speeds towards the shore.

"Oh no..."

"We should probably-"

"RUN!"

The group all turned and ran as fast as they could, as the Seadramon washed itself ashore with fury, kicking up water and sand as it thrashed with it's long body. It rose up, roaring as it spotted its prey, and breathed icicle shards from its mouth. Everyone scattered as quickly as they could, avoiding a potentially very bad situation. Coiling its body, the Seadramon swiped with its tail, aiming towards the closest targets.

"Ashido, watch out!" Kyouka shouted as she shoved the pink girl out of the way, but only placing herself on the path instead, the leaf-shaped tip of the tail wrapping around her. Kyouka let out a loud cry as she was lifted off the ground and squeezed by the Seadramon's tail.

"Kyouka!" Neemon shouted as he jumped forward... then immediately turned to the rest, frantically flailing his arms in a panic. "Hey! Somebody do somethin' and help her!"

"Dracomon!"

"Right, Itsuka!" the dragon charged ahead with a cry, a bright light emitting from Itsuka's Digivice and quickly engulfing Dracomon as she grew far larger due to her transformation.

"AIRDRAMON!" the winged dragon roared as it charged at the Seadramon, colliding head to head with it to force the sea serpent to let go of Kyouka, the girl landing on the sand and quickly being helped out of the way by Izuku and Yui.

Hissing loudly, the Seadramon shot more ice towards Airdramon, who quickly took flight to avoid the attack.

"Spinning Needle!" Airdramon blasted a hail of blade-like air needles on the sea serpent, the needles crashing into it and sending it falling down onto the sand. But the sea serpent still thrashed, flailing its body in every direction as it roared in equal-parts fury and pain.

"Aidramon! The bug! Aim at the bug!" Itsuka shouted.

The winged dragon nodded, flying over the Seadramon as she flapped her powerful wings down towards it. "God Tornado!" blasting down a stream of spinning blue flames, they washed over the metallic bug pierced onto Seadramon's back, causing it to explode and unleash a plume of black mist. The Seadramon let out a high-pitched hiss, contorting its body as it crawled along the sand to put itself back into the water, swimming away from the beach until it vanished in the water.

"Good going, Airdramon!" Itsuka cheered as her partner landed on the ground, before her body glowed and shrunk back down to a Dracomon-shaped size.

"Huff...!" she dropped on her stomach, "So tired..." and it didn't take long before Itsuka rushed over to her, picking her up in her arms. "Dracomon did good...?"

"You did great. Just rest for now, Dracomon." Itsuka smiled at her.

"Jirou-san, are you alright?" Izuku quickly asked.

"Y-Yeah, my arm just stings a little from being squeezed like an orange." she tried to lighten the mood. "But I'll be fine."

"Is everyone else OK?" Mina called out, getting a thumbs up from Camie as she held Labramon. "Geez, why is everything here out to get us! Are we just cursed or something!?"

Izuku walked past her, moving over to where the smouldering wreckage of the metal bug was. It's not like he knew what he was looking at, just seeing a lot of burnt machinery without a clue on what any of it could mean. He saw someone walk up next to him, quickly noticing Saiko crouch down to investigate herself.

"Hmm... interesting..."

"Can you understand any of this, Intelli-senpai?"

"Not as much as I'd hope; machinery has never quite been my forte." she picked up the scraps of the metal bug to better inspect it. "But I can say this much: see this empty compartment in its center? There is a pump attached to it. This device seems to have been designed to either inject something, or siphon something out."

"It really is like a syringe..." Izuku hummed. "Could it be infecting the Digimon with something to drive them crazy?"

"Could be, but that begs the question: why not detach itself once it's done so?" Saiko held her chin in thought. "This container is empty. It could have happened during the explosion, or maybe it delivered its payload as intended..."

"But it was still trying to get something from Seadramon's body." Izuku concluded. "Blood sample?"

"Most likely, although I can't see any traces of it. Even with the explosion, I don't think it would completely disappear..."

"There was that black mist we saw."

"Right, but what could possibly have created such a-"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt whatever it is you've got going on-" Kyouka spoke up, "But we have a problem."

Itsuka stepped up, holding Dracomon in her arms. "Dracomon's too tired to Digivolve again, so we're going to have to put our plans on hold."

"Sorry, Itsuka..."

"Don't apologize." she smiled at her partner, "You had to Digivolve to save us. You did great, Dracomon." the dragon weakly cheered for itself as it snuggled closer to Itsuka.

Saiko didn't look too happy with this turn of events, but there was clearly not much else that could be done. "Well, unfortunate. We'll just camp out here for the night. We'll need materials, but we also have a few injured among the group; Jirou-kun needs rest, and maybe we should look into making a splint just to be safe..."

"G-Geez, relax, my arm's not broken!" Kyouka quickly said, moving her arm gently to show off that it seemed fine. "I-It just stings a little, that's all."

"Oh, well, alright. In any case, Jirou-kun could stay and rest with Dracomon; the rest of us, we're going to have to gather plenty of branches and leaves from the woods nearby. With Bakomon's help, we can create some makeshift beds so we don't have to sleep on sand, of all things."

"Why not just sleep in the RV?" Camie suggested.

Saiko turned her head to her, facing the girl with a flat look on her face. "Oh, sure! Let me just call my driver and tell him to bring us a fully-stocked camper van!"

Camie blinked, smiling at Saiko. "Well, like, you could do that..." before pointing further down the beach, "Or we could just use that one."

Everyone stared, following Camie's finger as it, sure enough, pointed at a perfectly placed camper van in the middle of the beach. Saiko's eyes bugged out, her face quickly growing red as Camie just kept an innocent smile on her face.

"Woohoo! Nice catch, Tsushimi-senpai!" Mina cheered as she rushed past with Alraumon towards the camper van.

"H-Hang on a minute!" Saiko said, "And how do you propose we even get inside? Surely it's locked-"

"It's open!" called out Alraumon as she opened the door, with Saiko nearly tripping over herself.

"Wow! Like, talk about lucky!" Camie said as she and the others approached the camper van.

"Hold on, should we even consider this?" Itsuka brought up, "I mean, this van has to belong to someone, right? What if they show and find a bunch of strangers sleeping in what could be their home?"

"I'm sure the three bears will understand why a bunch of lost, frightened kids took advantage of their carelessness." Kyouka said as she she stepped into the camper van along with the others.

"Woooaaaahh! This place ain't half bad!" laughed Mina as they got a good view of the inside. Sure, it wasn't one of those ultra-expensive caravans that were practically mobile apartments, but it was more than any of them could have hoped for. Two couches, two retractable bunk beds stored in the upper compartment, a small kitchen, and even a bathroom.

"Excuse me, comin' through, hot package, special delivery!" Neemon shoved his way past the small crowd as he made a direct line towards the bathroom, closing the door and locking it behind him straight away.

"Good to know he's got his priorities straight." Kyouka flatly said.

"Hey, guys! We've got eggs!" Mina called out from the kitchen after opening the small fridge. "That takes care of dinner!"

"W-Wait, aren't we already intruding!?" Itsuka only grew more nervous, "Should we really eat food that doesn't belong to us?"

"C'mon, Kendou-san! I'm sure they'd want us to eat their food, rather than let a bunch of poor, lost, could, scared and tired young ladies starve for the night! Now just you wait, while Mina-chan cooks us up some nice omelettes! Alraumon-chan, you can help! I handle a lot of the cooking back at my home, so I can teach you!"

"OK, Mina-chan!"

Itsuka sighed as everyone pretty much made themselves at home at the camper van. While she still felt a bit uneasy about it, it would be a lot better than spending the night out in the open. There was just enough room for all of them too, so maybe she should stop worrying and just accept luck as it came to them. She started to walk further inside the van, but then stopped as she noticed something from the corner of her eye. "Midoriya-san? Are you alright?"

Izuku flinched where he stood, right outside the entrance to the van where he remained very stiff and nervous-looking. "O-Of course I'm alright! W-Why do you ask! I-It's just.... it's just that, we don't know if anything else out here might try to attack us, right? One of us should stay on guard duty! A-And I volunteer! I insist, even!"

Itsuka blinked. "Oh, I suppose you have a point; we shouldn't let our guard down just because we found a place to stay for the night."

"We'll need to set up shifts, that way everyone gets to rest." Saiko said.

Izuku quickly raised his hands. "Th-That's not really necessary! I don't mind staying up all night!"

"Nonsense! What use is having a guard if they'll be too busy staving off sleep anyway." Saiko argued.

"I'll handle the second shift." Kyouka raised her hand as she sat on the couch.

"Are you sure, Jirou-san?" asked Itsuka, "What about your arm?"

"It'll be fine after I get some sleep. Besides, I don't need my arm to yell out 'danger', do I?"

"I guess not."

Saiko nodded. "Very well, I'm willing to take the third shift. Utsushimi-san will take fourth, Kendou-kun fifth,, Kodai-kun on sixth, leaving Ashido-kun for the last one."

"Works for me!"

"Mh."

"Woohoo! More sleep time for me!" Mina cheered as she worked on the eggs. "Now, everybody start lining up, and prepare to delight on Chef Mina-chan's amazing egg-making prowess!"

With their dinners ate, and the Sun having already set, everyone prepared to go to sleep. While it was earlier than they were accustomed to, everyone agreed they should look into having as early of a rise as they could. The far-reaching sky was lit up by thousands of tiny stars, leaving Izuku in a bit of wonder at just how many of them there were. With a little help from Candmon's fireball, making a small campfire on the beach was easy, helping to keep him and Spadamon warm in the surprisingly chilly nighttime along with some blankets.

It didn't take very long for Spadamon to end up falling asleep, but Izuku didn't mind as his partner clearly needed the rest. So Izuku was left alone to tend to the fire, his mind wandering away from looking out for any threats; that just felt like a very distant thing to worry about, the silence of the beach making it seem like nothing bad could ever happen in such a peaceful place, with only the soft waves breaking along the shore to break up the stillness.

After a while, Izuku put his focus back on the Digivice to see if he could uncover anything else about it, but at the moment, it didn't seem he'd have much luck. He could see the extra two dots behind him, indicating Camie and Itsuka were still inside; he could check the time, which just reminded him how long the night was going to be; and there was a third option that he couldn't quite make sense of, as all it displayed was a single bar on the bottom of the screen. Nothing he did altered the bar, or made anything else show up, so after much too long at testing it out, Izuku admitted defeat, and put the Digivice down. Saiko had given him her spyglass to be on the lookout for any possible threats in the distance, but he'd kinda been using it more to stargaze than anything. He wasn't too well versed in stargazing, but he'd learned a thing or two at camp from the Pussycats... which is why it was odd to him that he couldn't recognize any constellations.

There was a part of him that didn't quite want to admit what he had been thinking about all day long. After all, if he were to admit it, then that would make the subject of getting back home that much more complicated. But he couldn't lie to himself for too long, and everything he'd seen up to this point was pointing to just one possible conclusion he could make-

"Yo, Midoriya."

Izuku squeaked, caught by surprise and jumping when Kyouka spoke up. "J-Jirou-san? Why are you awake...?"

"It's my shift, remember?"

"O-Oh... has it already been that long?" he chuckled a bit nervously, "Y'know what, I still feel awake; just go back to sleep, I'll keep watch."

"That was not part of the deal, Deku."

"B-But your arm-"

"Is perfectly fine. See?" she stated, taking a seat on the sand across the fire while she waved her arm to demonstrate it didn't hurt. "Now come on, what's this about?"

"H-Huh?"

"You've been acting nervous and jumpy since we found the RV. So, talk to me."

"Ah... w-well... y-you se, uhm... I-I, uh..." Izuku fidgeted, his cheeks growing pink. "I-I take it you've... noticed a s-slight... unevenness... w-when it comes to... y-you know... our group..."

Kyouka stared at Izuku for a few seconds. "...you mean, how you're the only dude who got brought along on this weird ride?"

"Y-Yes, exactly..." he sighed.

"I didn't really think about it before, but Intelli did bring it up just before we all went to sleep." she smirked with a light chuckle. "Mineta and Kaminari would probably be eating themselves alive if they could see you. They'd be all 'that lucky piece of walking lettuce', or something like that."

Izuku flinched, his face growing increasingly red. "I-I-I'm not a lucky anything! I-I would never even think about t-taking any enjoyment out of the unquestionably a frightening a-and clearly dangerous situation w-we're in as some way to p-p-pi- g-get closer t-t-t-t-t-t-t-!!"

Kyouka let out a snort and a laugh. "O-OK, OK! Relax, Midoriya! I believe you, I believe you!" she cackled as Izuku deflated like a balloon. "S-So this is because you feel nervous about sleeping in the same van as six girls, yeah?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"What about the Digimon?" she asked, "Most of them are guys, and they're sleeping in there too."

"Th-That's... different..." Izuku said, although he frowned at his own answer. "With them, it's just... I'm honestly not even sure if they're humans..." he looked over at the sleeping Spadamon. "And even if they were, you can just tell by looking at them they wouldn't... y-you know..."

"Pull a Mineta?"

"Pull a Mineta."

"Maybe, but I still made Neemon sleep in the bathroom, just in case."

This earned a light chuckle from Izuku. "S-Still..."

"Yeah, yeah, you have a point." she waved, "But like I said, this is something Intelli brought up earlier too, since she felt a bit uncomfortable too. Ashido and I vouched for you; we know you're not the type to do anything weird. In the end, we hung up a large sheet we found that separates the front seats from the rest of the van. I know a front seat isn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but we figured it was either that, or have you sleep in the luggage compartment. The former felt like the best we could do."

Izuku took in a breath. "It's more than I would've asked." he smiled, "Thank you, Jirou-san. I guess I'll try to sleep..." he stood up, gently scooping the sleeping Spadamon into his arms to carry him. "Hey, where is Neemon, anyway?"

"Still asleep. Just let him." Kyouka shrugged. "I'll be fine on my own."

"A-Are you sure about-"

"Midoriya, it's fine." she gave him a confident smirk. "If anything happens, I won't do anything stupid; I'll run right back to the van and wake everyone up." she scooted over to where Izuku had been sitting, putting the blanket over her shoulders.

"Well... alright... here." Izuku carefully took the walkie-talkie, handing it over to her. "Hopefully we won't need them tonight, but just in case."

Kyouka took them with a short nod. "Good night, Midoriya."

"Good night, Jirou-san..." Izuku then walked back to the camper van, carefully placing down Spadamon on the front seat before taking the driver seat for his bed.

Kyouka was left alone, with nothing but the sound of the waves to keep her company. She really wished she'd thought to pack an instrument of some kind with her; a harmonica or something would really help pass the time. Maybe she could find some rocks and seashells lying around; make herself a little impromptu drum set and get some practice in. Maybe it was the boredom creeping in, but that was starting to sound like a really good idea. Before she could commit to it however-

"YAWWWN! Man, I think we should really look into sleep-friendly toilets." Neemon said as he dragged himself over to the campfire, "That was actually a really good nap I just had, but with just a few adjustment, I think sleep-toilets could replace ordinary boring beds in just a few years!" Kyouka's expression flattened as he took a seat on the sand next to her, slumping his whole body forward until his chin landed on the sand as well. "So! Yawwwn... what's new around the campfire?"

"It snaps and crackles; still waiting on it to pop." she said, "You can go back to sleep; I've got this."

"Nah, it's no biggie!" he waved, "I'm already up anyway."

"Oh, please, I insist." Kyouka flatly said.

"No, no, I simply must refuse." Neemon countered with a lazy tone of voice. "We're partners, so we'll get through this togetheeeeeer..." he slumped, ears drooping as he was already quickly falling asleep.

Kyouka's expression turned into a slight frown, but she just scoffed and focused her attention back on the fire. "Partner... like you'd be any help..."

Neemon's ear twitched, the Digimon slowly lifting itself up to look at her. "Woah, hey, I can be plenty helpful!"

Kyouka just stared at him. "Need I remind you I was nearly squeezed like a grape just a few hours ago by a giant sea snake?"

"Yeah? And I helped!"

"...how!?"

"I entrusted the job of savin' you onto someone more capable."

Kyouka couldn't even say anything, just reaching up to rub the bridge of her nose. "Right. Thank you for that."

"I don't know what else you expected me to do. Wouldn't have been very helpful for anyone if both of us were in need of bein' rescued, that's for sure."

Sighing, Kyouka shrugged her shoulders. "Y'know what, you're right. I'm not going to hold it against you. Some people can jump headfirst into danger like it's nothing, and others just can't. Neither one's more right than the other."

"Exactly." Neemon nodded. "I'm just not the fightin' kinda guy like the others are. Besides, if I was in danger, it's not like you'd come running in to help me either."

Kyouka blinked, frozen still for a second. "Wha-... Why the hell would you say that? Did not hear us talking about how we're training to be Heroes back home?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Neemon shrugged, "You're going to school for that, right? So you're not actually headin' into anything dangerous; it's all staged, I imagine."

"How are you-... I-I've taken actual on-the-field internships! With real Heroes, dealing with real dangerous Villains!"

Neemon tilted his head. "So you've fought them before?"

"I-..." Kyouka paused. "W-Well... n-not exactly... we're students without a license, s-so we're forbidden from actually getting physically involved with-"

"So you don't know."

Kyouka flinched. "What-"

"You don't know that, if you had to jump into danger to save someone, if you could actually do it."

"O-Of course I would!" Kyouka said, maybe a bit louder than she intended. "Fugamon! Back at the village! I jumped into that, didn't I?"

"So did I." Neemon shrugged. "But that's because everyone else was doing it too; strength in numbers, and whatnot. For all you know, you did the same just because the others were. But if it was just you-"

"I would've jumped in anyway!" Kyouka said as she stood back up, just starting to feel restless.

"You sure about that?" Neemon asked, looking up at her with a doubtful look on his face.

"Yes, I'm sure!" she seethed.

"See, I just don't happen to believe that's somethin' you can know until you do know." Neemon shrugged. "And you won't know until you find yourself in that situation."

"..." Kyouka quietly grunted, "Well, luckily, I'm not that narrow-minded. I've known in my heart that being a Hero is what I really wanted since I was a little girl. I know what I feel, and I don't need 'proof' to justify what I feel." she roughly turned her back on him, starting to walk away.

"Oi, where are you going?"

"Perimeter search!" she grunted back.

Neemon hummed and sighed, shrugging his shoulders as he shook his head. "The fiery springtime of youth..."

A few minutes passed, Neemon stocking the fire to keep himself warn, before-

"Neemon?" Izuku said as he stepped closer.

"Hm? Oh, Izuku. What's up?"

"Where's Jirou-san?"

"Perimeter search." Neemon shrugged. "That girl just does what she wants, you know."

"I-I see... well, here." Izuku handed over the spyglass over to the Digimon. "I forgot to give her this earlier; you guys might need it."

"Thanks. I'll let her have it when she gets back."

"Thank you. I'm going back, so good ni-"

"Hey, wait a second."

"...?" Izuku blinked, "What is it?"

"You're a Hero student like Kyouka, right? Tell me somethin': you ever been in a situation where you were the only one capable of jumpin' in headfirst into a dangerous scenario?"

Izuku seemed a bit surprised by the question, but he quickly nodded. "Yes. That's happened to me before. Someone I knew... he was being held hostage by a Villain. None of the Heroes there could do anything to help him, and I was just stuck in the crowd watching it all happen... and, well, it was kinda my fault that whole thing even happened in the first place."

Neemon hummed. "And? What did you do?"

"I just... started running." he laughed a bit awkwardly. "It was really crazy, a-and really stupid of me, but... I just felt like I needed to do something. I couldn't sit around and let it happen without at least trying to help. So I jumped in, and tried to rescue him."

"And how did that turn out for ya?"

Another chuckle. "W-Well... to be completely honest, I don't think I really helped at all! I couldn't back then, because- w-well, my Quirk hadn't developed yet, see. I didn't have any kind of power that could have been useful in that situation, so all I did was throw myself at the problem and hope for a miracle! Which, in a way... it did come. We were both saved by the greatest Hero who ever lived, All Might. After everything was said and done, I got my ear chewed out by the Heroes for my, a-admittedly very dangerous stunt! B-But... a while later, All Might ran to find me. He told me how I had inspired him to take action when he thought he couldn't, w-which was just crazy for me to think about back then! But he told me... every Hero has that moment. When their legs just start moving on their own to rescue someone. A-And that that was all the proof I needed... that even being as powerless as I was back then... that I could still be a Hero."

Neemon didn't say a word, seemingly hanging on to Izuku's every word. "...are you cryin'?"

Izuku flinched, quickly rubbing at his eyes. "Ah- S-Sorry, I just... get a bit emotional when I think back to that day..." he quickly put on a smile on his face. "It's really no exaggeration to say, that day... it completely changed my life."

With a hum, Neemon nodded. "I see... and you guys all take this stuff seriously?"

"O-Of course we do!" Izuku said. "All of us are training hard to become the best Heroes we can be. And to do that, like our school motto says, we have to Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!"

"Hmm..." Neemon hummed.

"Why do you ask, anyway?"

"No reason." Neemon shrugged. "Just lookin' for conversation. It's pretty dull out here with nothin' but the sand to keep you company."

"Oh. Well, do you want me to stay here until Jirou-san gets back?"

Neemon sighed happily. "Oh, you are such a gentleman! Would you kindly?"

"Of course." Izuku chuckled, "Actually, I've been meaning to ask a few questions."

"Is that so? About what?"

"Well, about everything, really. This island, the Digimon, and-

"OH, ENOUGH OF THIS!"

Izuku and Neemon flinched at the loud shout coming from-

"The van!"

"The van!"

They both turned, just in time to see thick black bars emerge in front of every door and window, completely barricading the camper van to prevent anyone getting in or out. A figure jumped off from behind the vehicle, landing heavily atop the the vehicles: two wide eyes stared at Izuku and Neemon, a simple curved-line smile facing them on a polished metal face; a face that also doubled as a body, the machine(?) being a layered conical shape with two yellow metal legs, and metal arms that wielded thick tonfas on each hand.

Izuku's eyes widened as he already felt One For All course through his body. "Is that a Digimon?"

"Yeah! It's a Damemon!"

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Damemon

Level IV

Type : Mutant

Attribute: Wrathful

A slow-witted Digimon who believes itself more capable than it actually is! More of a nuisance than a threat, it is surprisingly skilled at using its tonfas. It's special move, Gun Vulcan, shoots sticky, smelly pellets from its weapons!

------

Izuku took a step forward, quickly getting into a fighting stance. "I'm going to give you a chance, get rid of those bars right now!"

"Heeh heeh... no good! No gooooood!" Damemon taunted, "I can't do thaaaaat! Boss Gray says, the Chosen have to be taken care of before they arrive at Main Island! And that's what Damemon diiiiiiiid! Heeh heeeeeeh!"

"Boss Gray...?" Izuku blinked, but quickly refocused. "I may not know who you're talking about, but I'm guessing this means you're the first person who might have some answers for us. Release everyone in that van, right now!"

"Heeh heeeeeeeh...! You don't scare Damemooooon!"

Neemon frowned, carefully looking up at their opponent. "This ain't right..."

Izuku looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Damemon is hardly what you'd call a strategist. He wouldn't know his way out of an open box, let alone think of setting a trap for us!"

"Then that just means what I already suspected..." Izuku said, "You heard it too, right?"

Neemon nodded, growing more nervous. "Yeah... that yell from earlier sounded totally different from Damemon..."

"Chuuuuuuchuuchuuchuu~!" the second voice made itself heard again. "Very astute! Damemon, if you please; I would like to look at them with my own eyes." with a low chuckle, Damemon tilted his body to the side, shifting to reveal a tray attached to his back, and on that tray, sat a small yellow stuffed mouse, stitching visible across its whole body, wearing large red gloves and a dangerous and cocky look in his eyes. "Chuuchuuchuu! We meet at last, Chosen One!"

"A-...A mouse?" Izuku blinked, but Neemon jumped in shock.

"O-Oh no...! It's Chuuchuumon!"

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Chuuchuumon

Level III

Type: Beast

Attribute: Wrathful

A miniature Digimon with a devilish mind! Though it is weak by itself, its tactical schemes and sense for battle can turn even the most simpleton of Digimon into efficient war machines by simply listening to his advice! His special move, Chuuchuu Twitter, hypnotizes opponents with evil whispers in their ears!

------

"Chuuchuumon? Is that bad?"

"You better believe it's bad!" Neemon jumped as he flailed his arms and legs, "Whenever Damemon and Chuuchuumon are together, it turns Damemon into a terrifying monster in battle!"

"Chuuchuu! You flatter me! But that's Mister Yellow, to you!" the mouse Digimon said. "Now, if only you bothersome kids would have simply cooperated. I had hoped to catch all of you in one fell swoop, but you just kept walking in and out of the van at your leisure... but it's OK; all good plans have enough of a margin to account for last-minute changes. All of the real threats are safely locked away, anyhow. We have only a few stragglers to be dealt with!"

"Midoriya!" the cries for help quickly came from inside the van, Izuku and Neemon seeing the rest of the students and their Digimon striking the windows and door in the hopes of causing them to budge.

Izuku's eyes widen, which only got Neemon more nervous. "H-Hey, Izuku! I'm quickly getting to learn what that look means, but listen to me! We don't stand a chance against Chuuchuumon! We have to ru-"

But before he could finish, Izuku had already dashed towards Damemon, leaping high into the air as he spun his body for a powerful roundhouse kick.

"How plain!" Chuuchuumon chuckled. "Left!"

And Damemon quickly raised his arm, blocking Izuku's kick with his tonfa. Izuku, however, used the weapon to bounce himself off of it, spinning through the air over Damemon, and-

"Up!"

Damemon raised his other arm, blocking the axe kick from above, Izuku once again taking the block and using it to leverage himself and jump back into the air with a backwards flip.

"Simple, simple!" Chuuchuumon cackled loudly. "Damemon, to the right! Shoot him down!"

"Gun Vulcan!" Damemon aimed its tonfas, which fired off black pellets like a machine gun, accurately guessing where Izuku was going to fall down before he even landed. With nothing to jump off of, Izuku was blasted by dozens, if not hundreds of the pellets, each one sticking to his body in thicker and thicker clumps. When Izuku crashed to the floor, his arms and legs were completely glued together or to his torso, leaving him with nothing more to do but to struggle. It also didn't help the pellets were emitting a foul stench this close to his nose.

Damemon then leapt off the roof of the camper van, landing with one foot directly on top of Izuku's back, getting him to cry out in pain as he was stomped against the sand.

"Chuuuuuchuuchuu!" Chuuchuumon cackled, "I almost pity you poor simpletons... It's hardly fair to put you up against one of such talent and might such as I! But, whatever Boss Gray wants, I make sure of it that he gets! You and your little friends will all have a nice, quiet nap... in the bottom of the ocean! Chuuuuuuchuuuchuuuchu-yaah!? What!?"

Damemon blinked as he heard his commander's surprised squeak. "Chuuchuumon?" turning, he'd find Chuuchuumon being held up in the air by-

"Hey, big guy! Look what I got!" Kyouka shouted to get Damemon's attention, holding the small mouse Digimon with her Earphone Jacks. "Maybe pay closer attention to what's happening around you instead of gloating next time."

"Kyouka!"

"Jirou-san!" shouted Neemon and Izuku.

"You can thank me later!" grinned Kyouka. "More importantly... are we fighting a mecha poop!?"

"Damemon! Rescue me at once, you oaf!"

The metallic poop blinked and jolted. "Oh! Hey! You give Chuuchuumon back!"

"Fat chance!" she held up the mouse, "if you want your friend back, then let go of mine!"

Damemon paused, seemingly considering the proposal. "Well, uhhh..."

"DAMEMON! YOU UTTER BUFFOON!" shrieked Chuuchuumon, "Don't listen to her! I'm the one you should be listening to! Just shoot her! Shoot her!"

"Ah! OK!" Damemon cheerfully asnwered. "Gun Vulcan!"

Kyouka yelped as she desperately jumped out of the way from the sticky pellets, running away to find some cover at the front of the camper van. "OK, genius... now what's your plan!" she muttered to herself as Damemon approached, trying to think of something and do so fast.

"Heeeey... heeeeeeeey..." Damemon whined, "Give back Chuuchuumon, or Damemon will hurt yooooou!" he then jumped out to aim his guns at Kyouka. "Got y-... huh?" only to blink, finding the space in front of the van empty. "Hey... where did you go?"

Meanwhile, underneath the camper van, Kyouka made sure to keep her hand tightly over Chuuchuumon's mouth as she crawled beneath the vehicle, stepping out from the other end to then rush her way over to Izuku. "Midoriya, are you- Agh! Gross! What is that smell!?"

"I-I know, it's awful, I'm wrapped up in it!" Izuku answered back, really not wanting to think about it any more than he had to.

"O-OK, how the hell do I even start getting you free from... whatever this is!?"

"Kyouka!" she heard a quiet half-hush, half-yell to get her attention, seeing Neemon wave his arms so she'd see him. Keeping himself at a safe distance by the fire, Neemon frantically motioned towards the sea, mimicking a motion of rolling a barrel.

Quickly figuring out what he meant, Kyouka was careful to grab Izuku by his shirt where the black pellets weren't sticking to, and tried her best to drag him down the beach and towards the water. It wasn't exactly easy to drag a whole human body with one arm, while trying to keep a mouse quiet with her other one, but she gave it her best try none the same.

Unfortunately, that awkwardness would mean that, sooner or later, Chuuchuumon would struggle itself free enough to be able to cry out- "DAMEMON! OVER HERE!"

"Crap-!" Kyouka cursed, seeing the giant poop robot peer out from where she had left it scratching its head.

"Oh! Chuuchuumon! Found you!" Damemon cheered.

"GET ME BACK THIS INSTANCE! Boost Attack, now!"

"OK!" Damemon jumped, leaning forward as it prepared. "Boo~st Attack!" a mighty cloud of gas erupted behind it, launching Damemon into the air like a rocket, straight towards Kyouka, and much too fast for her to dodge. Damemon rammed right into her, sending the girl flying back until she landed on the sand with a cry, Damemon landing near her as he grabbed Chuuchuumon in midair, placing him back on the tray on his back.

The mouse Digimon let out a sigh of relief as he found himself back in his seat. "Alright, now that that bothersome distraction is over with..." he then aimed a dangerous glare towards Kyouka, "You've just volunteered to become the first to go!"

Kyouka struggled to get back to her feet, glaring defiantly at both Digimon. "If you think I'm down for the count, you've got another thing com-AGH!" Kyouka let out a choked gasp, Damemon suddenly jutting out its hand to grab her by the throat, lifting her off the ground.

"K-Kyouka!" Neemon shouted.

"Chuuuuuchuuchuu! See how you like it, you little pest!" the mouse growled. "Damemon, choke the life out of her!" Damemon chuckled, only tightening his grip around Kyouka's windpipe.

Neemon could only stare and watch in horror from a distance. His legs were shaking; his arms were shaking, his whole body was! He could hear Izuku scream, the screams of the others trapped in the van, but worst of all, he could hear Kyouka trying to scream as she gasped for air.

And with nothing left to do... Neemon's legs began moving on their own.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID-!" he cried out as he rushed headfirst towards Damemon, "Happy Accident!" and threw a rotten banana peel straight at his back, landing directly on Chuuchuumon's head.

"..." the mouse slowly and stiffly turned to face Neemon, a look of sheer murderous contempt stuck on his face. "You... dare...!?

"Damn right, I dare!" Neemon yelled. "Get your dirty paws off of my partner!"

And just like that, a light shone.

"Neemon, Digivolve to...!!"

"W-What!?" Chuuchuumon flinched as a potent light emitted from Kyouka's Digivice, as well from Neemon's body, completely engulfing. The banana-shaped body grew and stretched sideways, becoming spherical in shape as his arms and lengs lengthened and grow more muscular. Deep red gloves covered his hands, while red and blue shoes with a star on them covered his feet; shaggy hair grew along the sides and the back of his head, as well as his armpits, but only a single hair sprung out from the top of a shiny dome, along with a red tattoo spelling "FUTURE"; a goatee adorned his face, along with a pair of black sunglasses that shined as the light washed away from his body.

"NANIMON!!"

Chuuchuumon could only stare in horror, realizing- "M-Mister Orange was telling the truth!? Th-This is... Digivolution!?"

"OOOOOOHHH, YA DAAAAAMN RIGHT, PIPSQUEAK!" Nanimon shouted. "Your ass is grass, my friend, and this guy's got the weed whacker!" with a shout, Nanimon jumped at Damemon with a jumping kick, striking his opponent right in the face to get him to stumble back, and more importantly, let go of Kyouka.

Before she could fall on the sand, Nanimon caught her in his arms, jumping back to get some safe distance. "Kyouka! Speak to me!"

The girl took in a deep gasp for air, followed by a cough as air began circulating back into her lungs. "W-What... Neemon...?"

"You better believe it, baby!" Nanimon grinned. "This fool still has plenty to learn, and he's not ashamed to admit it!" he carefully set Kyouka down on the sand, "Now, let me handle these punks! It's the least I could do after what I said earlier!" he straightened up and took two steps forwards. "Let me show you... my own fiery springtime of youth!"

Kyouka blinked, very lost as ot what Nanimon was saying. "Fiery... what?"

Chuuchuumon only grew more angry, and just as nervous, by the second. "D-Damemon! Get this eyesore away from me!"

"OK! Gun Vulcan!" Damemon quickly fired out the pellets from his gun, but Nanimon made no attempt to dodge them.

Instead, he shouted! "Poop Attack!" and as he did, he wildly swung his arms to fling dozens and dozens of poops, blocking the pellets from reaching Nanimon, but also ramming straight into Damemon and Chuuchuumon, knocking them back.

Chuuchuumon frantically cried out as Damemon fell. "G-Get up! Get up, get up! Quick! I-I can still win this! I can still win this!"

"Mister Yellow!" Nanimon yelled to get the mouse's attention. "Today you learn a powerful lesson! A lesson in what it means to be a Hero!" Nanimon clenched his rist hand, which began to glow with red energy. "There are no shortcuts! No warning signs! It's a do or don't life, and one I will gladly step into to protect others! I will take those words, and hold them close to my hard!" his fist only glowed with greater intensity as he charged towards Damemon, "This is the day...the moment! That I Go Beyond! PLUS ULTRA!" and swung his fist with a powerful jumping uppercut! "Oyaji Punch!" the red energy gathered on his fist exploded right on Damemon's face, blowing both Digimon high into the air, their screams growing more and more distant until they vanished over the horizon line, a twinkle under the moonlight signaling their departure.

Nanimon watched as they flew out of sight, bringing up two fingers to his forehead for a lazy salute. "See ya."

"Still... it's a bit of a shame we couldn't have interrogated that rodent for some information." Saiko lamented. With Chuuchuumon defeated, his trap had quickly unlocked, freeing everyone from the van.

"Heh... maybe I got a bit too excited!" Neemon said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You did great, Neemon!" Alraumon cheered.

"Yay! neemon Digivolved too!" Dracomon jumped with joy.

"Kind of... a strange transformation, I have to say..." Itsuka quietly commented.

"Mm-mm." Yui nodded.

Mina huffed as she kicked one of the wheels of the van. "Well, that settles it! I'm sleeping under the stars tonight!"

"Here, here..." Camie seconded, not at all looking forward to stepping back inside that death trap. "Let's, like, just grab some blankets and lie them down over the sand."

"Good plan, Utsushimi-senpai!" Mina said, "...but I'm not going back in there to get them."

"Me neither!"

"But someone has to!"

"Like, maybe we should play rock-paper-scissors for it?"

"Come on, you're our Senpai! Shouldn't you volunteer for- ah, wait! Kodai-chan!" before she could stop her, Yui had had already jumped into the van again to grab some blankets.

As everyone gathered around the fire, Kyouka held back as she smiled down at Neemon. "Hey. Thanks for saving me."

"Eh, it's what partners do. Don't mention it." he shrugged it off.

Kyouka just smiled with a light chuckle as the two walked closer to the campfire. "Who knows, maybe you'll make a good Hero someday.

"Hey, everyone!" Neemon spoke up as they approach, "I'm sure you're all very thankful towards me, so! As a reward for saving everyone's lives today, I was thinking that today... I get to sleep with Camie-chan tonight, yeeeeess~?"

The group flinched, except Camie who just blink. "Well... like, I guess it's fair, right?"

"WOO, BABY! Here I co-HYAYEE!!" only for Neemon to quickly get jabbed by Kyouka's jacks and fall on his face.

"Not happening."

"B-But... p-partneeer...!" Neemon whimpered on the sand.

"As your partner, it's also my job to keep you in line." Kyouka smirked.

Chapter Text

In the misty air of the early morning, a pair of wings flapped in near total silence, nearing the cliff side. Expertly, they flew between branches and leaves, never once disturbing the sensitive foliage as they moved by.

The brown-feathered body landed atop a tree branch, deep red goggles on a metallic helmet with a purple heart on its forehead, focusing in on its targets: the winged serpentine dragon that had just landed, and the seven humans it had brought along with six other Digimon. A small microphone emerged from the bird's helmet, before he spoke into it.

"This is Mister Brown. Come in, Boss Gray."

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Owlmon

Level IV

Type: Bird

Attribute: Wrathful

An excellent scout who specializes in night-time missions. With its infrared goggles, it is capable of operating even in total darkness. Because its offensive abilities are low, its special move, Infrared Ray, allows it to snipe at enemies from long distances!

------

"Mister Brown, report." the cold voice on the other end of the line responded.

"It is just as you said; the targets have made landfall on Main Island. Point Bravo-Alpha."

"As I expected. Once we lost contact with Mister Yellow, it was inevitable they would arrive."

"Shall I alert the closest operative of their arrival?"

"...no." the voice answered. "Not yet. Maintain visual contact with the targets at all times. Report their every move only to me. Do not interfere in any capacity. For the moment, we will simply watch."

"Understood. Mister Brown, out." the microphone retracted, and Owlmon simply stood where he was, keeping a watchful eye on his targets...

"The trip wasn't exactly the most comfortable, I must say..." Saiko said as she straightened out her outfit.

"Well, there's seven of us, plus six Digimon; even a big dragon like that only has so much room, right?" Camie said.

"I think, for someone who only learned to fly yesterday, Dracomon-chan did a terrific job!" Mina cheered the little dragon. "And thanks also go to Alraumon-chan, for providing safety harnesses with her Nomad Ivy things, or whatever!"

The flowery Digimon blushed a bit with a small curtsy. "It was my pleasure!"

Pleased with her clothes, Saiko focused on the new task ahead. "Alright, we're on this Main Island, so the next thing to do is, figure out where we should be heading..." the terrain around them wasn't that much different from where they were before, although there were a lot less trees around them, giving Saiko a good unobstructed view for a good distance. "Bakomon."

"Yes, Intelli-san!"

"Help me get atop that boulder over there; that's a good advantage point to try and find some sign of civilization."

"Yes, Intelli-san!" Bakomon gave a salute and the two walked over to a rather large rock formation sitting nearby, Bakomon helping give Saiko a bit of a boost to get her on top of it, where she could scan the area with her spyglass.

Meanwhile, Izuku was wandering a bit off from the group, taking note of the large mountain that sat in the distance. "Is that a volcano? It's huge!"

"That's Repeat Mountain." answered Neemon. "It used to be a volcano, but it's been dormant for years. Totally harmless."

"Smoke..." Yui pointed out that there was a lot of smoke coming from the dormant volcano, covering a good portion of it.

"That is worrying..." Izuku said, "Although, none of it's actually coming out the top, it seems..."

Kyouka couldn't help but frown slightly. "Knowing our luck so far..."

"Well, we shouldn't relax either way." said Itsuka. "Who knows if there aren't any more Digimon out there who might want to attack us."

"What was that little rat's problem, anyway!" Mina said, "He didn't even have one of those weird bugs on him! So why's he picking on us!"

Izuku hummed. "I heard him mention a 'Mister Orange'... you think that might've been Fugamon?" he looked towards the others, but mostly just got a few uncertain shrugs. "He also mentioned a 'Boss Gray', so that means they must be working for somebody..."

"There are evil forces at work in this world..." repeated Yui.

Izuku blinked, but nodded as he remembered where he'd heard that before. "Right... that's what Jijimon warned us about. From the sound of things, it seems like we're being targeted by someone. And probably because of these things." he motioned to his Digivice.

"Great. We've only been here a day, and already people hate us." Kyouka said.

"I don't care how many they got!" jumped Candmon, "It could be dozens of 'em! Triple that! Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em! I'll take 'em all on!"

Yui blinked, looking down at the candle Digimon as he energetically bounced around, before she carefully placed her hands on his head, pushing down to stop him from moving. "It's dangerous..."

"I laugh in the face of danger!" Candmon energetically waved his arms instead. "When I Digivolve, I'll blow away everyone who comes after Yui! It'll be all, POW, and with a BOOM!"

"I'd rather we just not get into fights at all from now on, but hey, that's me." Neemon shrugged with a sigh.

Kyouka blinked, looking down at him. "Well, someone's attitude sure changed from last night."

"Hey, that was all adrenaline!" Neemon responded. "It can make a guy say some really dumb stuff, that's all."

"Either way, let's try and hope we don't get into any more trouble." Itsuka said, "It's bad enough we have to deal with crazed Digimon, this 'Boss Gray' stuff seems way out of our League. We need to find someplace safe, and hopefully get a Hero to help us."

"You really think we can find a Hero out here?" Mina asked.

"It's worth a shot, right?" Itsuka said with a light shrug of her shoulders, trying to smile to stay positive.

"We could ask Gaogamon."

Izuku blinked, looking over at Spadamon. "Gaogamon?"

The lion only gave Izuku a quick glance, before turning away. "I-I guess... he's kind of a Hero, like the ones you guys talk about. He's protected these islands for years, so if anyone can help us, it's him."

"Great idea, Spadamon." Labramon nodded.

"Yay! We get to meet Gaogamon!" Dracomon cheered.

"We have to find him first, don't we?" questioned Alraumon, "But he could be anywhere!"

"It's still better than nothing." Izuku assured her. "As long as we have a name, maybe someone knows where to reach him-"

"JACKPOT!" yelled out Saiko from atop the boulder. "Everyone, I have located our next destination!"

"What did you find, Intelli-san?" asked Itsuka.

"A factory!" Saiko excitedly answered, "Just beyond that ridge! The walk is a bit long, but there's no doubt in my mind, we'll find someone there who is capable of helping us!"

"A factory? That sounds promising." Itsuka said, gaining a bit more optimism.

"There's bound to be people there, right?" Kyouka said.

Mina nodded, but then noticed Alraumon's look of uncertainty. "Alraumon-chan? What's wrong?"

"It's just... I don't remember ever hearing about any factory around here..."

"Me neither." said Neemon as he scratched his head.

"Maybe it's new?" suggested Bakomon, as he helped Saiko get back down from the rock.

"I guess, but what are they even making there?" asked Neemon.

"Oh, who cares what it's used for!" huffed Saiko, "It's somewhere we're bound to find actual humans who can tell us exactly where we are! Now let's get moving, and we might just reach it by noon!"

The rest of the group saw no reason they shouldn't give it a try, since there seemed to be no other signs of civilization nearby, and so, they set off towards the factory, hoping to find some more answers...

"Itsuka... I'm hungry..." Dracomon quietly whined.

Itsuka sighed, gently patting the dragon on the head to sooth her. "I know, I'm sorry Dracomon..."

"We all are." grunted Kyouka. "Hey, fearless leader! Would it really kill us to stop and take a rest?"

"Do you want to find a way out of here, or what?" Saiko huffed back. "Look, we can see the smokestacks already; if there is a factory nearby, then it stands to reason there's a town close by as well! You can get all the rest and food you want there!"

"It's not like the factory's going anywhere, so I don't see what all the rush is about..." Kyouka grumbled.

Saiko let out an annoyed sigh. "Am I the only one here actually in any hurry to find out where we are, and how to get back to camp!? I can't understand why you are all acting so carefree about all of this!"

Izuku flinched a bit, raising his hands to hopefully defuse the situation before it got out of hand. "I-Intelli-senpai, that's not it at all! We all want to find a way back, of course we do!"

"That's right!" Camie added, albeit with a much more breezy smile on her face compared to Izuku's growing nervousness. "It's just, like, it won't do us any good to start freaking out and get all crazy about stuff we can't control, right?"

This only seemed to earn more ire out of Saiko. "I'm sorry, crazy!? Is that what you think of my actions? I'm crazy for actually trying to find answers, instead of rollicking around and listening to old wives' tales from these... these..." she motioned vaguely towards the Digimon, "What even are you anyway!?"

"We've already said, we're Digimon." Labramon answered.

"You ain't very sharp, are ya?" Neemon asked, getting Saiko angrier.

"That's not- Are you human or animals!?" Saiko grunted.

"We're Digimon!" Candmon jumped, but his answered only got Saiko to fume further.

"Ha ha! Saiko's face is all red!" Dracomon giggled.

"Guys, let's calm down, alright?" Itsuka tried to step in.

"I am quite calm, thank you very much!" Saiko bristled, but quickly straightened herself up in a more composed appearance. "You can slouch around if you would like, but I will be making my way to the factory. Do as you please." she quickly turned on her heel and began marching away.

"Ah-! Intelli-san, wait for me!" Bakomon quickly followed, leaving the rest of the group behind.

Itsuka let out a sigh as she watched Saiko leave, before turning to the rest of the group. "Well... what say you guys?"

Kyouka shrugged. "Well, we know where she's going." and immediately took a seat on the ground, "She'll survive for a few minutes."

"Hear, hear." Neemon backed her up, quickly lying down on the grass.

"I'm beat! Any more walking, and my legs will fall off!" Mina knelt down to rest, "You're tired too, right Alraumon-chan?"

Alraumon nodded, mimicking her partner and kneeling down. "I could go for a rest, for sure! Besides, Saiko has Bakomon with her. She's in good hands!"

"As long as he doesn't get all that cardboard wet!" Mina chuckled a bit.

Itsuka still didn't look entirely sure about this plan, but- "OK! It's settled then~!" Camie quickly jumped up beside her, "You guys just let Camie-senpai and Labra-kun worry about the food! We'll bring you guys back some lovely treats!"

Labramon nodded. "I've been smelling some berries nearby for a while, so it won't take long."

"Well... alright..." Itsuka said, but then noticed Izuku still staring towards where Saiko had left. "Midoriya-san? What about you?"

"I..." Izuku paused for a quick moment to think, but he simply couldn't get it out of his mind. "I think I'll go after Intelli-senpai. Even if she's with Bakomon, if there's even more dangerous Digimon over here, she should have someone to back her up. Spadamon, are you coming?"

The lion flinched a bit. "Of course I'm coming! I'm not tired or anything!"

Itsuka nodded, feeling a bit more confident with that plan. "Alright then, maybe just to be extra safe, you should have one more to go with you. I'll-"

"I'll go too."

Itsuka blinked, a bit surprised by Yui volunteering herself. "Kodai-san, that's fine, I can go with-"

"Dracomon is hungry." Yui said.

"Ah-! Well... that's true, but-"

"Stay." she said. "Eat." before she started walking after Saiko.

"Yeah, yeah! We'll protect Saiko! We'll give 'em a POW! And a WHAM! Anyone who tries to attack us will be ZOW!" Candmon cheered as he followed behind Yui.

Izuku also quickly excused himself, following with Yui.

Izuku and Yui quickly met up with Saiko, who was grateful for their assistance (in her own way). The walk was still a bit lengthy, much of it occupied by Izuku asking Saiko questions about her Quirk, which the girl was happy to give answers to. He tried asking Yui as well, but she was a bit more cagey (not just about her Quirk, but simply in general, really). Eventually the factory would become visible. There was no fence around the perimeter, which was a bit strange, but Saiko remained optimistic as it simply made their entrance that much easier. The factory was a single building, with a number of smaller storehouses whose contents they couldn't see.

"This place is pretty big..." Izuku said as they walked towards the factory. "What do you think they make here?"

"I bet they make huge stuff!" Candmon said, "Like, way big! They have to, for a place this big! Right, Yui?"

"Mh." was her answer.

"It doesn't really make sense..." Bakomon said as he rubbed his cheek, "Why would anyone build a factory all the way out here? Main Island doesn't have anything of value as a resource..."

Izuku started wondering himself as he looked to Saiko. "Intelli-senpai, do you have any-...? Intelli-senpai?" he blinked, noticing her furrowed brows. "What's wrong?"

"You'd think there would be a lot more movement around a busy factory, right?" she noted, getting Izuku to really take note of their surroundings.

"That's true... we haven't seen anyone since we got here."

"...I don't like this..." Spadamon said. "Something smells wrong in this place..."

"Isn't that just the smoke?" Bakomon asked, but Spadamon shook his head.

"No... I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Should we maybe go back?" asked Izuku. "At least, wait for the others to-"

"Absolutely not!" said Saiko. "We've made it all the way here; I am not going to suddenly turn back based on something as illogical as a gut feeling!"

"It's not a gut feeling!" Spadamon argued. "Didn't you hear me? I said I smelled something wrong!"

"Oh, well, that makes all the difference, then." Saiko flatly stated as she made her way to the front doors, marching in without hesitation.

Izuku and the others did pause for a moment, but it didn't take them long to go inside after Saiko just to make sure she wasn't about to walk into a dangerous place. The inside of the factory was a bit more chaotic than they expected, multiple hallways stretching out in various directions, pipes and wires lining the walls as a cacophony of clangs and metallic whirring filled the air. It wasn't oppressive enough that it was unbearable, but they did have to raise their voices slightly to speak up over the racket.

"Well, at least we know the factory's operational." Izuku said, but he couldn't help but note that they still didn't see anyone around.

"There has to be a map around here somewhere..." Saiko hummed as she looked around the room, but there wasn't anything along the walls.

Yui slowly looked around before pointing down a hallway. "There. Light." everyone looked over to where she pointed, and sure enough, it was the only hallway that ended in a noticeable light.

"Perfect! Let's go!" Saiko didn't wait a second, and the group quickly marched down the cramped metal hallway. Along the way they would be able to peer into other rooms they passed by, but they generally only held strange machinery none of them recognized. After a while, they finally reached the light-filled room, finding themselves atop an elevated platform looking down on a large room. With plenty of lengthy tables and benches, they quickly recognized it as a mess hall, complete with a kitchen where a line was formed.

Unfortunately, much to Saiko's displeasure, the line was not being formed by human, or even humanoid figures. Instead, the mess hall was filled with twenty or so floating gear-like machines with red eyes, and gears for hands that were munching down on steel nuts, screws and bolts as their lunch.

"Are those robots...?" Izuku asked.

"They're Hagurumon!" answered Candmon.

Saiko just sighed defeatedly. "Let me guess... more Digimon..."

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Hagurumon

Level III

Type: Machine

Attribute: Wrathful

A mysterious mutant Digimon in the shape of a gear. Its houses many gears inside of itself, and if only one stops moving, then its body shuts down. Its special move, Darkness Gear, shoots out black gears that embed themselves in its opponent's body.

------

"Guess there's no humans here after all." Bakomon said.

"Oh, I'm not giving up just yet!" said Saiko with a renewed fire. "Look at them, down there! These Hagurumon are clearly just the grunt work in this factory! But someone has to keep these things in line, correct? The foreman here may just yet be a human, looking after all these machines! No matter how advanced a machine becomes, you still need humans to program them!"

"Intelli-san..."

"W-...What's that look of pity for!?" she bristled at the cardboard Digimon. "I could still be right, can't I!?"

"Could just be another Digimon..." Yui said the obvious.

"Y-Yes, but it could also not!" Saiko stubbornly clung to her point. "As long as there is a non-zero chance of it, then we won't know who is wrong until we try to find the answer!" with a huff, she turned to head down the staircase. "I'll just ask to be pointed towards the one in charge, and we'll see who's-"

"Wait!" Spadamon quickly stood before Saiko, and immediately started to shove her and the rest of the group back to the doorway they came from, Spadamon glancing back to make sure the Hagurumon hadn't spotted them yet. Thankfully they were too high up, and the mess hall was too noisy from their voracious eating that nobody noticed they were there.

"W- What's the big idea!?" Saiko said, quickly growing annoyed. "I'm only going to ask! It doesn't hurt anyone to do that!"

"Spadamon, what's wrong?" Izuku said, seeing the uncertain look on his partner's face.

The lion let out a small sigh, but still looked increasingly nervous. "I don't think it's a good idea to let them know we're here."

"And why not?" Saiko asked, tapping her foot from her growing impatience.

"Because there are no Hagurumon on Main Island!" Spadamon said, "And that weird smell... it's all over this factory, and all over them!"

Bakomon hummed as he inspected the walls of the factory. "Now that I see it up close... this place seems really clean still, for a factory. No wear and tear whatsoever. I think it might have been built only a short while ago."

"I fail to see why that's relevant." Saiko said, still a bit huffy.

"Intelli-san, I understand why this might frustrate you..." Izuku stepped in to hopefully calm her down, "But the Digimon are the ones who've been living here; if they think something feels strange, then shouldn't we listen to them?"

Saiko's eyes only narrowed, her cold frown only turning into an even-lower-temperature glare. But while she opened her mouth to air out more of her complaints, she quickly noticed something that snapped her out of the current topic of conversation. "Hold on- Where's Kodai-kun?"

Izuku blinked, and sure enough, when he looked around he couldn't find Yui. "Kodai-san?"

"Yui?" Candmon blinked, clearly not having noticed her leaving either. "Where did ya go!"

Bakomon looked around and quickly pointed, "I think I see her! She went further down the hallway."

"Yui! Wait for me!" Candmon quickly hopped after her, the rest of the small group following suit. Soon enough they would see Yui's red sundress past a doorway that lead into another open area of the factory, the girl in question staring down from the elevated platform towards something the others couldn't see yet as they approached.

"Kodai-san!" Izuku called out.

"Kodai-kun, don't just run off ahead of us like that!" Saiko chastised, and Spadamon had to hold his tongue over all the times Saiko had just started marching along on her own.

Yui glanced back as the others approach, and simply pointed down towards the factory floor. As the others approached to see what she as pointing at, their eyes widened as they saw it. While the assembly line was currently halted, it wasn't difficult to recognize what was being built: the metal bugs they'd seen on the previous island sat half-formed on the assembly line, dozens, if not hundreds of them in production.

"Those are-"

"Those things that turn Digimon violent!" Candmon finished Bakomon's thoughts. "This is where they come from? No way!"

Izuku's expression quickly changed from surprise to alertness as the situation just got a whole lot more complicated. "If this is where they're coming from, then we could be in danger. We should probably leave and-"

"Hold on, now!" Saiko interrupted, "What do you mean, 'leave'? This is a golden opportunity to get some answers!"

"W-What?"

"Look, we don't actually know what these bugs are for, right? We're just speculating what they're capable of. This is our chance to know for sure what's going on here." she pointed over the railing, towards the other end of the large room. "There's an office over there. If there's some sort of computer, or even just plain paper files, we might be able to get an idea what we're actually up against."

Izuku couldn't help but feel a bit nervous still. "What if we get caught? We don't know how long the Hagurumon's lunch time is going to last."

At that, Saiko smirked and pointed up. Izuku blinked, following where she was pointing to, and on the wall behind them, just above the doorway, was a large clock. While it had no numbers on it, it did clearly mark the (sole) break for the Hagurumon's lunch, a small section of the clock being painted red with the picture of a hunk of meat within it. "We have about twelve minutes. More than enough time, provided we get moving right away!"

The others stared at Saiko, which got her to feel a bit self-conscious pretty quickly.

"W-What!? What are you staring at?"

"S-Sorry, Intelli-san!" Bakomon quickly apologized, "It's just... I wasn't expecting this from you."

"Saiko is always rushing things and bossing others around!" Candmon said, "But she's got guts after all!"

"Mm-mh." Yui nodded.

Saiko gained a light blush, but she didn't look too happy with this reputation she seemingly had. "L-Look, I'm still training to be a Hero, you know! And something clearly strange is happening around here, so if we can get some information that we can pass along to the Pros, then I'm not about to pass it up, alright?"

While he wouldn't admit it out loud, Izuku was taken just as much by surprise. Saiko had definitely been presenting a certain picture of herself up to this point, so being shown this more audacious side of her was a surprise, and not an unwelcome one. Izuku's eyes hardened with determination, as he nodded to let her know he was fully on board with this plan.

"Right, let's hurry up!" Saiko commanded, the group quickly heading down the stairs to cross the room as quickly as they could. It really did seem like every worker there was gathered in the mess hall, so the trip to the other side was quick and simple, allowing them to get up the stairs without any issue. The office door was open, much to their relief, and everyone stepped inside. The office itself wasn't all that interesting; it was as professional as one could expect, with several file cabinets, a desk with an outdated cord phone and lamp on it (and a rubber duck, which was slightly unexpected). There were a pair of lockers as well, but most noticeable of all, the wall behind the desk was filled with monitors that showed security footage across the entire factory. There was a brief moment of concern over whether someone spotted them walking in, but everyone silently agreed that, if there was no alarm blaring right now, then they were probably in the clear. Saiko quickly focused on the console located beneath the security monitors, quickly deciding on what to do next.

"Right: Midoriya-kun, Kodai-kun, you both look through those files; Spadamon and Candmon, check those lockers. I'll see what I can dig out through that computer over there. Bakomon, the entrance to this office is a blind spot on these security monitors; you keep an eye out for anyone approaching."

"Roger, Intelli-san!" Bakomon said, before stationing himself behind the ajar door, giving him a good view of the entire factory floor. The rest quickly headed off to their respective tasks.

The file cabinets had plenty of papers to sift through, but as soon as Izuku and Yui started to do this-

"What the... these are just pictures of rubber ducks!" Izuku blinked, staring at black and white photographs of several similar, but different models of rubber ducks.

Yui also stared at various photos of rubber ducks wearing different tiny hats. "...cute..."

Meanwhile, Spadamon and Candmon opened up the first of the lockers, only finding some work overalls and a broom. Moving on to the second one-

"Just more of the same." Spadamon cursed.

"Oh! Wait! Look!" Candmon picked something up from the floor of the locker, "Is this a clue?"

"Th-That's a bedpan, Candmon! Put that down!" Spadamon winced.

"Keep searching!" Saiko ordered, "There might still be something useful buried under there!" urging Izuku and Yui to look through the files faster, while Candmon and Spadamon checked the pockets of the overalls. Saiko focused back on the computer ahead of her, removing a pair of glasses from within her vest, feeling pretty confident with herself; those Summer computer courses she took when she was eleven were about to pay off! The computer was horrendously outdated, lacking in nearly every advancement made in user-friendliness and utility in centuries of computer technology, but this was but a mere bump on the road for someone like her! In just a mere minute, she was already pulling up schematics! Work schedules! Cafeteria menus! She should probably focus on that first one, as it sounded like the most useful information, but her genius could still have gathered more!

She carefully but quickly analyzed the schematics, showing how those strange bugs were built. Much of the specifics were a bit beyond her expertise, but most of the information of how they functioned wasn't that important anyway. Her eyes scanned over a section that seemed promising; as she suspected, the bugs were injecting something into other living beings, inducing a state of blind rage, but the purpose of it all was harder for her to understand. "Dark Energy...? Harvesting...? What does any of this mean..." she muttered to herself as she kept trying to dig deeper. "The signal controlling these things... coming from a separate base... Repeat Mountain?" but just as she felt she was getting closer to more concrete answers-

"Someone's coming!" Bakomon warned, "They're heading for the stairs! We have to hide!"

The warning got everyone alarmed and scrambling to find good hiding spots in what few there actually were. Spadamon, Candmon and Bakomon quickly rushed into one of the lockers, squeezing themselves in before closing the door; seeing this, Yui quickly grabbed Izuku's wrist and followed the Digimon's lead, getting the both of them into a locker to hide; meanwhile Saiko had to hurry to leave the console exactly as she had found it before, in a slight panic, diving underneath the desk in what wasn't exactly her most well-thought out plan, but it was too late to try and change course.

"Bakomon, you're standing on my foot!"

"O-Oh, excuse me, I- wait, you don't have feet, Candmon!" said Bakomon.

"Oh, right." the candle Digimon remembered as the three creatures fidgeted to try and find some comfortable way that they all fit inside the locker.

"Bakomon, get Candmon on your back! Just lift him up a bit!" Spadamon ordered, and when Bakomon did so, it helped to alleviate some of the pressure on the three of them (although Spadamon had to step on top of the bedpan, which wasn't really something he was happy with).

Inside the locker next door, Izuku and Yui were having a harder time finding a comfortable position. Or at least, Izuku was, as even despite the very real threat of being caught and possibly attacked did nothing to assuage the fact he was extremely and very closely pressed against a girl. "Kodai-san I-I'm so sorry, this isn't-!"

"Shh." she shushed him, her expression not changed in the slightest from discomfort or embarrassment even as her face was pressed against Izuku's chest.

Saiko, meanwhile, could feel her own heart pounding against her chest. This was easily the dumbest hiding place she could have chosen, and she should've tried to squeeze inside one of the lockers instead. If the person about to walk in thought about taking a seat, then it was all over for her. She thought that maybe she might still have time and run over to the lockers, but then-

"What a pain..." she heard the voice grunt as a figure entered the office with heavy footsteps. Quite tall, with scaly blue skin except for the white that ran up his chest and neck; lengthy red hair draped down his back, his dinosaur-like face obscured by a metal mask with a single horn sticking out backwards; metal gauntlets covered his clawed hands, and metal also covered the side and the leg seams of his green pants; metal shoulder pads and a lengthy tail that ended in a blunt metal tip.

"Candmon, can you see anything?" Spadamon carefully whispered, asking the candle Digimon as he was at a taller advantage point on top of Bakomon to peek through the small gaps on the locker's door.

"Ah-!" Candmon yelped, "It's Strikedramon!"

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Strikedramon

Level IV

Type: Dragon Man

Attribute: Moral

An exterminator known as the "Commando Dragon". While normally having a quiet and composed personality, when it finds its target it will become possessed by a terrifying destructive instinct until its opponent is vanquished! Its special move, Strike Fang, engulfs its body in super-hot flames before charging recklessly!

------

The dragon man lazily dragged his feet along the floor as he approached the desk, rubbing the back of his neck as he yawned like he had just been awakened from a nap. Thankfully he stopped just before the desk, grabbing the phone and pressing a button before waiting.

Soon enough, there was a click on the other end of the line. "Ah-ah-ah! This line is for emergencies only! One could get in trouble by abusing it~!"

"Don't give me that crap..." Strikedramon grunted at the voice on the other end, "This is Mister Blue, and you're the one who told me to call. Now what's so important that I had to interrupt my nap for?"

"Ahhhh, Mister Blue! So good to hear from you!" the voice cooed. "Very well, I'll cut straight to the chase: that shipment you've been working on? We're going to need that order tripled!"

Strikedramon clicked his tongue. "Triple? Are you joking with me? Yesterday it was double, and so was the day before that! We keep pushing the Hagurumon like this, and sooner or later, they're going to start rioting."

"These are direct orders from Boss Gray, I'm afraid~" the voice chuckled. "You're more than welcome to speak to him and tell him your complaints, if you'd want!"

"..." Strikedramon didn't answer, not verbally anyway, as his nervous disposition quickly sent the message that he didn't want to risk crossing his boss. "Fine... tell him I'll see to it it's done."

"Wonderful~! I knew you were and understanding fellow, Mister Blue~" with that, the voice disconnected, Strikedramon placing down the phone with a grunt.

"That rotten Mister Green... I just know he's enjoying seeing me squirm..." he sighed, picking up the rubber duck that sat on the desk, apparently speaking to it. "He's always trying to play himself off as Boss Gray's favorite, even if it means kicking down the rest of us... such a pain in the-hm...?" he paused, noticing something. For a brief moment, the students and Digimon felt their hearts skip a beat, wondering if maybe he had noticed them, but his focus was on the security monitors. "What's this...?"

Only Saiko was in the right position to be able to glance up, and see what Strikedramon had seen, a squeak getting caught in her throat. Right there, in plain view, she could see Utsushimi Camie and the rest of the other girls along with their Digimon partners, wandering into the factory. No, no, no! Not NOW! Why did you have to show up NOW!? she internally panicked.

"Intruders...? Just what I needed... huh? Hold on, are those-" he leaned over the table, looking closer at the monitor to better see the small pale blue devices the humans carried. "It can't be... Boss Gray was right, the legends were true after all..." he let a small smirk cross his lips. "Just my luck... the Chosen Ones wander right through my front door. I'll have to take care of them... such a pain... what do you think?"

Squeak squeak!

Strikedramon nodded at the rubber duck's advice. "You're right, no point in putting myself in danger. If these Chosen really are as dangerous as Boss Gray says... well, I'll just let our other unwanted guest deal with them." he placed the duck down, picking up the phone again. "...yeah, this is Mister Blue. Gather up six other Hagurumon, and meet me by the warehouse." with that he put down the phone, and headed out the office.

They didn't all come out right away, wanting to make sure Strikedramon wouldn't suddenly turn around and reenter, but once it felt safe enough, everyone came out of their hiding spots.

"We have to warn them!" Izuku was the first to say anything, just as soon as he was out of that oppressive locker.

"Mm-mh!" Yui emphatically nodded in agreement.

"Don't you think I know that!" Saiko hissed, holding her chest as her heart was still racing a mile a minute. As soon as it relaxed a little, she quickly turned to the console again, tapping away at the keyboard with her eyes glued to the computer screen. "If only I could find some sort of PA system, or something to send them a message..."

"Why don't we just go and kick Strikedramon's butt!" Candmon said with a jump. "It'll be all, POW! Leave our friends alone!"

"Are you mad!? We have no idea how strong that monster is, and the only one among you who has been able to transform is Spadamon! And even then, with those gears running around, he'd be at a numerical disadvantage!"

"Then I'll just Digivolve too!" Candmon proudly said.

Saiko huffed. "We don't know if you even can! Now is not the time to rely on inconclusive odds!"

"Can too! Watch me! I'll Digivolve right now! Hnnnnnnnnnnnrrrrhhh!!" Candmon clenched his teeth and braced himself, but there was no change to his current appearance beyond his cheeks turning purple from holding in his breath.

Saiko ignored the candle Digimon's attempt, focusing back on the computer. "Hold on a second... I've found the factory's blueprints... if we're here, then the warehouse should be... I see, I see..."

"Did you find a way to get in touch with them?"

"No, I'm afraid that is impossible." Saiko answered Izuku. "A confrontation is surely inevitable, but we hold the advantage of surprise!"

"Do you have a plan, Intelli-san?" asked Bakomon.

Saiko let a smirk cross her face as she turned to the others. "Of course I do! My formula of success is already decided!"

"This placed looks smaller from the outside..." Kyouka said as she and the others stood at the entrance of the factory. "Where do we even start looking?"

"HELLOOOO! ANYBODY HOOOOOOME!?" Neemon called out, startling Kyouka a bit. "No answer... maybe they never even got here."

"Where else could they have gone?" Itsuka said, "Besides, Intelli was dead set on getting here; I doubt she'd get sidetracked no matter what. They might just be somewhere deeper in the building."

"Sooo, should we split up or something?" asked Camie, "That's what they always do on TV!"

Mina sighed. "I just hope they have some real food around here. Those berries weren't filling at all!"

Alraumon nodded, holding her stomach. "Yeah..."

"I am very sorry..." Labramon regretfully said, "I really thought I had smelled something more substantial."

"You did your best, Labramon, don't beat yourself over it." Itsuka assured him.

Dracomon fidgeted a bit. "Still hungry..."

Camie looked at the Digimon, already feeling sorry for them. "Well, a factory this big has to have a kitchen, right? Let's-" she then paused, looking up towards one of the hallways. "Hey, someone's coming."

Floating slightly above the ground, a Hagurumon approached the group with a friendly smile on its face. "Welcome. Welcome to our factory. How may I be of assistance?"

Itsuka blinked, taken a bit aback by the talking gear, but it seemed friendly enough. "Oh, uhh... thank you! Actually, we're sorry, but, we've been traveling for hours hoping to find some help, and-"

"We're starving!" Mina whined. "Please tell me you have some food!"

The Hagurumon just kept its smile. "Of course, of course! You must be exhausted! Please, follow me, we'll take care of you right away!" it turned and started hovering away, the girls exchanging a few looks between each other.

"Should we?" Kyouka asked.

"I'm not so sure... something here smells strange..." Labramon said.

"What's the problem? He said he'd take care of us, right? You guys are too quick to suspect people!" Mina said as she started following the gear Digimon, "Let's go already!"

Mina quickly marched ahead of the group followed by Alraumon, the other girls exchanging a few more glances of uncertainty. But without any other option, they decided to go ahead and follow the Hagurumon, if only so as to not leave Mina alone. After walking through several long and cramped hallways, the small group was led towards a wide and spacious room by the Hagurumon, many large containers stored there, stacked highly on top of one another. The room didn't quite appear finished yet, still in the midst of construction, with three large cranes setup around the room still holding heavy girders and metal panels. Awaiting them was Strikedramon, sitting atop one of the containers.

"Greetings, Chosen Ones..."

Itsuka quickly felt a dangerous unease fill the air, but she had to keep calm. "Are you in charge of this factory? We were hoping we could find someone to help us."

"I don't doubt it..." the dragon man Digimon sighed as he stood up atop the container. "Unfortunately for you... you're beyond any help. This'll be the place your legend comes to an end, Chosen Ones."

Mina jolted. "W-Wait, what? Does that mean we're not getting any food!?"

"Mina-chan, get behind me!" Alraumon said as she stood in front of her partner, ready to protect her.

"Everyone, watch out!" Neemon warned, "Strikedramon is a very powerful and ruthless Digimon in battle!"

"That's Mister Blue to you, rat." Strikedramon gruffly said. "And while I could easily tear you all to shreds myself, I don't like to get my hands dirty unless I must..." he reached down, grabbing hold of the latch on the front of the container. "Instead, I'll let another troublemaker who thought he could waltz in here deal with all of you." he pulled the latch, letting the container's door swing open.

A low growl could be heard coming from inside, followed by heavy footsteps as they approached the entrance. Saliva dripped down a snout that bore vicious fangs, the powerful blue wolf emerging from within the container; its front paws were covered by thick red gloves, except for where its large claws had ripped through them, and from the silver mane that covered its back emerged two lengthy red arms resembling a scarf.

Neemon took a step back, looking noticeably horrified. "O-Oh no! It can't be-"

"That's Gaogamon!" Labramon shouted.

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Gaogamon

Level IV

Type: Beast

Attribute: Harmonious

A powerful Beast Digimon with fearsome fangs and a crushing bite. Its leg strength is so great, it can hurl its entire body into the air in a mighty pounce! Its special move, Spiral Blow, unleashes a vortex of wind out of its mouth.

------

"Look! On its back!" Alraumon pointed, as two metallic bugs could also be seen clinging to the giant wolf's back, the monster's eyes lacking in any sort of reasoning and leaving only pure rage.

"Gaogamon's being controlled!" Dracomon shouted.

Gaogamon let out a furious howl, before launching himself forward with a pounce towards the group. The girls and their Digimon all jumped aside just in time to avoid the attack, the wolf Digimon furiously snarling as he blocked any escape using the path they'd come from.

"Itsuka! I'll save Itsuka! Dracomon, Digivolve to..." the small dragon spread out her wings, but quickly her defiant posture slumped as she grabbed hold of her stomach. "A-Ah...! So hungry...!"

"Dracomon!" Itsuka shouted, rushing by and picking up her partner in her arms just as Gaogamon threatened to land on top of the dragon, smashing a paw down on the floor with enough force to leave a dent.

Alraumon quickly stepped up, shouting- "Nemesis Ivy!" stretching out her claw-like vines to grab hold of Gaogamon, but the wolf thrashed its body with so much strength, Alraumon was easily thrown into the air with a cry.

"I've got you- I got you!" Mina shouted as she caught Alraumon in her arms. "Are you OK, Alraumon?"

"Mina-chan... you saved me..." the flower Digimon sighed in relief.

"Everyone, RUN!" shouted Neemon as he dashed past them, the others soon taking his advice and taking off, fleeing from Gaogamon as they headed deeper into the maze-like collection of storage containers.

The wolf Digimon remained in hot pursuit, jumping atop containers as it relentlessly chased the girls and their Digimon, forcing them to abruptly  change paths whenever he lunged towards them again. While the thought of splitting up had crossed their minds, the unfortunate truth was, there simply wasn't that many options to take for escape paths, and the further they got, the more corralled they were starting to feel. And that feeling reached its limit when they stumbled right into a dead end, piles of storage containers forming a wall ahead of them.

"Oh no-!"

"Th-This isn't happening- This can't be happening!" Mina panicked, already hearing the howling behind them getting closer.

"Camie... everyone... I'm sorry..." Labramon said as his legs nearly buckled underneath him, "I'm just too tired to do anything..."

"My stomach won't stop growlin' either!" Neemon said, holding his stomach. "It's totally empty! I couldn't get the tiniest bit of poop out even if my life depended on-" a loud crash was heard as Gaogamon landed on the floor behind them, Neemon jumping up and shrieking. "WAH! I-I take it back; I made a mess after all!"

Kyouka grimaced, but she focused on the violent beast that was now breathing down on them. "We kinda need a plan, and we need one quick!"

Itsuka also faced the snarling beast, her hands enlarging as she raised her fists, readying herself for a fight. "Just stay behind me! I'll try to hold him off as best as I can, and the ret of you make a run for it!"

"I'll fight with Itsuka!" Dracomon said.

"No, Dracomon, you're going with-" before she could finish, she as interrupted by Gaogamon letting out an enraged roar, slowly stalking closer to the group.

"Th-This can't be it...!" Mina trembled, her eyes watering as she collapsed to her knees, clutching Alraumon tightly. "I-I don't want to die...-!!"

Amidst the growing terror, as they all stared their possible death right in the face, Camie was the one to notice it first. It was a metallic screech followed by grinding, a rumbling echoing along the warehouse as if something large was currently moving. And then that noise was followed by one other, getting the attention of the girls and their partners, as well as the enraged Gaogamon.

Camie looked up, her eyes widening a bit as she spotted them: two of the nearest cranes were moving, turning their heavy bodies, the protruding arms all moving to face them, as well as their heavy cargo. But as she focused on the cab of one of the cranes, she could just about spot a familiar shade of green on one of them, giving her a good idea of what was happening. She saw Gaogamon search around, just as distracted by the noise as they were, but not yet realizing to look straight up. She knew if he did, then this whole thing would flop, so she wasted no time in charging forward, passing ahead of Itsuka much to her surprise, and blowing out a plume of purple smoke right at Gaogamon. That smoke soon turned into several tiny devils wielding pitchforks, dancing around the wolf Digimon's head, sticking out their tongues at him and mooning him to get his attention. The monster let out a growl, snapping his powerful jaws at the tiny devils to get rid of the pesky annoyances.

It was a valuable few seconds Camie had bought for them, before-

"RELEASE!"

At Saiko's command, Izuku pressed the button on the console before him just as she did, unlocking the ropes of their cranes to let the heavy pipes and girders freely fall downwards, directly on top of the menacing wolf Digimon. A thunderous noise of crashing metal resounded all over the area, Gaogamon being immediately buried underneath the heavy construction materials. The girls and the other Digimon were caught by surprise as everything came crashing down in front of them, until-

"Hey! You guys!" Izuku called out, quickly using One For All to let him leap off the crane and down the storage containers until he was at ground level, Spadamon following suit. "Are you alright?"

"M-...Midoriya-san?!" Itsuka said, clearly still a bit shocked.

"MIDORIIIII!!" Mina squalled. "Y-You saved uuuuuss!!"

"It was all Intelli-senpai's plan. I just followed her instructions." he said, sounding very relieved they were all safe. "And if not for Utsushimi-senpai's quick thinking, it's possible it wouldn't even have worked."

Camie just smiled, holding up her fingers in a V. "It was nothing~"

"How did you even know we were here?" asked Kyouka

"I'll explain later, but now we should-"

"Hey! Why are you all standing around!" Saiko yelled out as she, followed by Bakomon and Yui, climbed down the ladder to get to ground level. Candmon was last, having some trouble slowly descending the ladder without any legs. As soon as Saiko was close, she just let go of the ladder and landed on the floor. "Let's get out of here before that other monster shows up with backup!"

"R-Right, we have to-"

Izuku's voice died in his throat as he heard it, the groaning of metal being moved. The pile of construction material was shifting, as the trapped monster began pushing its way from underneath its prison. With a mighty roar, Gaogamon burst out from underneath the pile of metal, only looking angrier than ever before. It immediately turned its head, spotting Saiko and Yui, and with a loud howl, blew out a powerful vortex of wind from its mouth that collided against the crane, smashing past the ladder while Yui was still on it. The metal creaked as it bent and snapped, Yui falling backwards until she was free falling down to the floor.

"YUI!!" shouted Candmon as he gripped to the ladder, but just as he did, a streak of green rocketed by as Izuku grabbed Yui off the air

Gaogamon only began howling more and more, blasting powerful wind shots everywhere as they crashed against storage containers and walls, breaking through solid metal and concrete with ease, bringing down the cranes and storage containers and getting them to crash all around them.

"Huaaah! How do we stop this crazy thing!?" yelled out Neemon.

"If we could just get those bugs off of it, maybe it would calm down!" Kyouka said, but it's not like she had any idea on how to get close enough to the raging beast to achieve that.

Placing Yui down to safety, Izuku quickly turned his focus to the raging blue wolf, the look on his face hardening. He was nervous, of course he was, but knowing everyone else was too only steeled his determination. He felt the familiar rush of power course through his body, and just like that, he was airborne again.

"IZUKU!"

He heard Spadamon cry out his name, but it didn't slow him down as he charged straight towards Gaogamon. The blue wolf thrashed his body to slam a shoulder against Izuku, but he deftly vaulted over Gaogamon to avoid it. Grabbing hold of a chunk of fur on the wolf's mane, Izuku quickly grabbed hold of one of the mechanical bugs with his free hand, pouring every ounce of power he could muster to try and either pry the bug off of Gaogamon, or at the very least crush it with his bare hand in the hopes that would be enough.

Unfortunately, Izuku hadn't counted on those scarf-like arms on Gaogamon's back to actually function like arms. The red appendages flailed wildly before they swiped down on Izuku, the finger-like extremities gripping around Izuku tightly, squeezing down on his chest with more strength than he would have ever expected. Izuku let out a cry of pain, letting go of Gaogamon's fur and the bug as the wolf raised him up into the air, letting out a howl as he continued to squeeze the life out of the boy.

Spadamon immediately jumped in, wielding his sword as he charged towards the wolf. "Let go of him! Blue Brave!" but as he got close, the wolf swung a powerful paw at the lion, smacking him aside with ease. The other Digimon quickly joined in, doing everything they could even against a much stronger opponent.

"Baby Breath!"

"Retriever Bark!"

"Nemesis Ivy!"

Despite their attempt, the attacks seemed to just bounce off of the beast, Gaogamon roaring and blasting out another vortex that, while it thankfully didn't directly hit any of them, was still enough to blow away all of the Digimon and hurt them.

"N-Not even a scratch!? Intelli-san, can't you think of something!?" Bakomon asked in growing panic.

Unfortunately, Saiko seemed frozen in place, her eyes wide with fear. "I-It's impossible... m-my plan... it should've worked- it didn't- we can't- it's hopeless- it's-!?" she jolted as Yui pushed right past her, heading towards the pile of construction material left on the floor. She grabbed a heavy metal pipe, her Quirk allowing her to shrink it down to about the size of a baseball bat, which she quickly wielded.

Yui charged at the wolf without any hesitation, swinging the metal pipe in front of her with as much strength as her body could muster. While it connected with Gaogamon's front leg, it only seemed to anger the monster further as it let out a snarl, then swiped with its other paw. The blow was too fast for Yui to jump away from, Gaogamon's paw colliding against her and the wolf pinning her to the ground, and pressing down on her as it howled triumphantly.

"Y-YUIII!!" shouted Candmon as he hung from the ladder. His eyes widened in horror, but then quickly that fear was turned to anger, the candle Digimon throwing itself off the ladder, and fall from a great height towards Gaogamon. "You-!! YOU GET YOUR PAWS OFF OF YUI!!"

And then, light burst forth from the Digivice beneath Gaogamon's paw.

"Candmon, Digivolve to...!!!"

The light washed over Candmon's small body, completely engulfing him in it. The flame atop his wick grew and exploded in a fiery blaze, the flames stretching down Candmon's body and taking shape, muscular arms and legs growing out from the inferno. The man-like monster that landed on the ground was completely coated in flames, deep blue eyes peering through the fire as a stitched up mouth let out a victorious war cry.

"MERAMON!!!"

The wolf growled at its new opponent, blasting out another vortex of wind to collide against the burning Digimon. The fire around Meramon flared up as he leapt straight over the wind blast, and charged directly towards Gaogamon. "HWOOOOOAAAHHH! I'm burning, burning up! Crimson Flame!" his fist glowed with powerful roaring flames, before he threw a fireball from it directly against Gaogamon's face. The large wolf was sent backwards, off of Yui and letting go of Izuku in one fell swoop. "Let's go, LET'S GOOOO!!" but Meramon wasn't done, charging right against Gaogamon and wrapping his arms around the wolf, lifting him right off the ground as he continued running, finally slamming the wolf against a wall with so much strength, he burst straight through it. On the other side were a number of machines emitting a lot of heat and steam.

Gaogamon quickly stood back up, lunging towards Meramon with a powerful swipe with its claws, catching the burning Digimon right in the chest. Meramon stumbled back, but still stood tall as he laughed in the wolf's face.

"HWAH HA HA HA HA!! That can't hurt me! Can't stop me!! I'm burning up! I'm buuuuuuuurning up!! Heat Knuckle!" both of Meramon's fists raged with heat and flames, before he aimed a flurry of punches, colliding against the wolf with a repeated cry of- "HATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAAAA!!!" and with one final and mighty punch, sent the wolf flying backwards and crashing towards the ground.

Back at the storage room, Yui got up and quickly checked on Izuku. While he was banged up, the boy seemed fine.

"K-Kodai-san... Candmon is...-"

"Mh." Yui nodded, knowing what Izuku was about to say: that her partner might need her help.

"Go!" Izuku urged her, and he didn't have to do so twice as Yui got up to chase after Meramon, but-

"Kodai-kun, wait!" she stopped as she heard Saiko call out. "That room they're in; that is where the generators that power this factory are! One wrong move, and this whole place will blow up, with us inside of it!"

Yui's eyes widened slightly, and she quickly nodded as a silent way of saying she would handle this. Turning, she rushed straight towards the hole in the wall to see Meramon and Gaogamon still exchanging vicious blow after vicious blow, being far too close for comfort to all those generators lying around the room.

"Meramon!" Yui called out, "These machines could blow up the factory! Destroy the bugs! The bugs!"

Meramon blocked another of Gaogamon's claw swipes, letting out another cry. "OOOOOAAAHH!! You got it, Yui!!" he shoved the wolf aside to get behind him, his fiery arms wrapping around Gaogamon's torso before Meramon lifted the wolf off the ground, and with a loud yell, slammed the wolf down on its back and shoulders with an explosive German Suplex. This was enough to stun Gaogamon for just enough time, leaving him wide open for Meramon's attack. "Heat Knuckle!" the burning Digimon sent two flaming fists against the metal bugs, smashing them with each blow and getting them off of Gaogamon once and for all.

The wolf let out a weakened cry as he stumbled down to the ground, the threat seemingly over. After a few seconds, Gaogamon slowly reopened his eyes and pushed himself back on all fours, shaking the cobwebs out of his mind. "What... what have I done..."

"Gaogamon!" Meramon called for him, "You're OK now!"

"Yes... and I have you to thank for." the wolf nodded, "My sincerest apologies, I-"

"Don't sweat it, man! It wasn't your fault!" Meramon assured him with a thumbs up. "Hey! Listen! Do me a favor, will ya! Get Yui and all the others outta here, right away!"

Gaogamon, as well as Yui, both blinked at that request. But the wolf quickly nodded. "Of course. But what will you-"

"I'm about to blow this place skyyyyy hiiiiiiiigh!! HWAH HA HA HA!!" Meramon cackled, turning towards the generators as the flames in his body flared up. "Get them all to safety! I'm counting on ya!!"

Gaogamon flinched slightly, but immediately did as told. He rushed back out the hole, picking up Yui in the process, then made his way towards the rest of the students and their Digimon. "Please, I know I haven't done much to get you to trust me, but you must hurry and get atop my back!"

Itsuka blinked, clearly a bit aprehensive about this. "W-Wait, why do we-"

"Factory's gonna explode." Yui succintly explained, which certainly lit a fire underneath everyone else. Throwing all caution aside, they all got atop of Gaogamon, and the wolf ran as fast as it could, the sounds of distant explosions quickly growing louder and louder, along with Meramon's laughter, as the factory collapsed with each fiery eruption.

The once imposing factory had quickly been reduced to ash and rubble. The Hagurumon had quickly evacuated the facility, and now mostly just hoevered around the premises aimlessly without a job to fulfill.

Yui stared at the smoldering ruins with bated breath, until finally-

"Yuuuuuiiiii!!!" she could see the little candle Digimon bouncing up and down as he made his way towards her.

She sighed, a very subtle smile crossing her lips as she greeted her partner with a congratulatory pat to the head when he reached her, Candmon giggling happily.

Nearby, Gaogamon humbly bowed his head towards the Chosen. "Thank you all for rescuing me from Strikedramon's control. I am forever in your debt, Chosen Ones."

"Don't worry about it." Kyouka said with a light wave of her hand.

"Speaking of, what do you think happened to Strikedramon?" Izuku wondered.

"He must've ran away when he saw how cool and strong I became, obviously!" Candmon chuckled as he bounced up and down. "Ha ha! Did you see me! Did you see me! Wasn't I the coolest!"

"You did great, Candmon!" Alraumon clapped.

"You certainly saved all of us at the last minute, and I thank you for that." Labramon nodded.

"Did you have to act so creepy though?" asked Neemon, "I mean, I'd be scared out of my mind going up against a shouting lunatic like that."

"What!? Why would you be scared!? I'm a Hero, just like Yui! Heroes aren't scary!" Candmon argued.

"Hahah! Meramon is cool! Really cool!" cheered Dracomon.

"Humph! Thank you! At least someone gets it!" Candmon said, puffing out his chest slightly.

Spadamon let out a light sigh. "You shouldn't be fishing for adulation, you know? A real hero would just be happy with a job well done, regardless of how many people cheer him on."

"Eeeeehh!? Is that so? But that's not fun!" Candmon said, "People cheering for you is the best part! It's what keeps you going, right!? I'm right, aren't I, Yui!?"

"Mm..." she vaguely replied, placing her hands atop Candmon's head to hold him down from his restless bouncing. "You'll get there..."

Chapter Text

"Japan...?"

Saiko's heart quickly sank as her hopes were dashed yet again.

"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of such a land." Gaogamon bowed his head apologetically. "I wish I could have been of more aid to you."

Itsuka sighed lightly, clearly disappointed, but not holding it against the blue wolf by any means. "It's OK, Gaogamon-san. Thank you, anyway."

After the destruction of the factory, the group had taken the opportunity to set up a quick camp nearby and have a short rest, along with hopefully getting some more answers to some of their questions. Gaogamon's knowledge of the land had already come into great help, as he had aided them in gathering some fruits for the humans and their Digimon to eat.

"Guess we'll just have to keep wandering aimlessly then..." Kyouka frowned, but she didn't look terribly worried. "Are there any towns nearby we could visit? Maybe someone there can help."

Gaogamon nodded at this. "Yes, there are several villages all around Main Island. Many of them are small, however, and don't know much about the world outside of the archipelago."

"So we're back to square one? Geez, what a pain...!" Mina whined.

"Well, not necessarily." Saiko spoke up, trying to remain positive. "Jijimon told us to make our way to Header Town, so we have at least one lead to go off of. Could you at least tell us how to get to this place?"

"...hey, weren't you wearing glasses before?" Candmon asked, having been staring at Saiko for a few seconds.

Saiko flinched. "G-Glasses? What are you talking about! I don't need glasses! That's ridiculous!" she huffed, a slight hint of pink appearing on her cheeks.

"Huh... I thought for sure I saw them..." Candmon said, rubbing his head in confusion.

"Anyway! Header Village? Yes?" Saiko asked again.

"Of course." Gaogamon nodded. "But I'm afraid the journey won't be a quick one."

"Why start now..." Neemon sighed.

"Header Town is located on the opposite end of the island, on the other side of Repeat Mountain."

Mina blinked and looked over to the giant, imposing volcano, quickly frowning. "You're kidding me... we gotta go around that!? That could take weeks!"

"I'm afraid it's the only way." said Gaogamon.

"I'm sure it's not so bad, Mina-chan!" Alraumon tried to cheer her partner up. "As long as we're together, I'm sure the time will just fly by!"

"It's not the time I'm worried about, it's my poor sensitive feet!" the pink girl pouted. "They hurt just thinking about having to walk that far!"

"I would offer to help lead you there..." Gaogamon said, "But I'm not sure how long I was under Strikedramon's control. I must check on the rest of the island, and see if its inhabitants are safe. There is no telling how far this dark influence may have reached..."

"That's understandable." Itsuka said, Yui nodding in agreement with a short hum.

Izuku also nodded, and quickly asked the most pertinent question in his mind. "Gaogamon-san, do you know what's going on? We've been getting attacked by Digimon left and right, not to mention those mind-controlling machines flying around... do you know anything about who this 'Boss Gray' is, and what he wants?"

"I'm afraid I don't know much more than you do." Gaogamon admitted. "It started about almost three months ago, when travelers from across the ocean arrived on Main Island; Digimon that had never lived on these islands began traveling towards Repeat Mountain. In just a few short weeks, they had built a large factory there."

Izuku blinked, looking back at the mountain and the clouds of black smoke that covered it.

"For some time, they left us alone. They remained in their factory, never interacting with the rest of the island's inhabitants... but then, they began expanding. I began receiving messages from villages about strange Digimon trying to convince them to leave their homes, and when such tactics failed, they would threaten to become violent."

"That's awful!" said Camie. "They, like... a criminal gang, or something..."

"I'd never heard of this before..." said Labramon with a frown.

"Sounds scary..." said Dracomon.

"For the most part, that's all it seemed to be: empty threats, and none of them ever came to pass." Gaogamon continued, "But then I began hearing stories of Digimon going berserk, as more of these outsiders' factories started appearing. I knew I had to investigate, but..." he frowned, "...the rest of my memories are foggy. I confronted Strikedramon at his factory, but I was ambushed. Then, those machines clung to me, and it was like I ceased to have control over my own actions. I was locked away, and I am not sure for how long, until I was used against you..."

"These guys sound like big cowards to me!" Mina huffed, "Controlling people to do their dirty work like this!"

"At least you're safe now, so it was, like, a positive that you attacked us when you stop and think about it!" added Camie with a cheery grin.

"That's stretching positivity a bit thin..." Kyouka flatly said.

"Wait..." Izuku said, "You said there were more factories out there?"

Gaogamon nodded. "Correct. At least one more, near the base of Repeat Mountain."

"I saw it." Saiko spoke up with a nod. "I got to look through some of the files on the factory's computer; the main computer controlling those black machines is located in that factory."

Gaogamo's gaze hardened as he bowed his head. "Thank you for this information. I must head there to put this to a stop then, once I make sure the villages aren't in danger."

"I kinda wish we could do more to help..." admitted Itsuka.

"I wouldn't ask you to put yourselves in danger; it is my duty to protect this island." assured Gaogamon. "Even if you are the Chosen Ones. Your destination is Header Town, and that is where you must go."

"Thank you, and good luck, Gaogamon-san." Izuku nodded, before the group parted ways with the blue wolf Digimon. Still, Izuku couldn't help but feel a knot in his stomach growing; he agreed with Itsuka, and desperately wish they could do more to help, rather than focus only on themselves. But even with the Digimon to help them, what could they actually do?

Heavy footsteps stomped on the forest floor, Strikedramon swatting aside some branches as he huffed in frustration.

"What a pain..." he sighed, looking back the way he came. "The Chosen Ones... why did they have to show up here, of all places..."

"Ooh-ho-ho-ho~! What's this? The fearsome Strikedramon pulling back with his tail between his legs~?"

Strikedramon cringed at the sound of the familiar voice, turning his head to spot a puddle of water on the floor nearby. "Ugh... just what I needed..."

The puddle flashed a bright light, revealing the reflection of a murky silhouette of the figure speaking to the dragon man Digimon. "How unseemly of you, Mister Blue! I'm sure Boss Gray will not be happy to know of how you lost him one of his factories~"

"Tch!" Strikedramon scoffed, "Shut your mouth, Green. I don't get paid enough to blow up alongside an easily replaceable factory, and the Boss knows it."

"Ooh-ho-ho~! I'm just toying with you, dear Blue! Don't take my silliness too seriously~" Mister Green's playful tone of voice soon turned much more serious. "So, what was it like? Getting a taste of the Chosen's power like that?"

"Didn't feel great, I can tell you that much..." Strikedramon grunted. "I can see why the Boss was so paranoid about them showing up now..."

"Hmm... yes, it is very troublesome..." Mister Green hummed. "But I'm afraid it gets worse. I decided to do a little digging myself into this; it seems that five of the Chosen have managed to awaken their powers already."

Strikedramon clicked his tongue. "If just one of them can cause this much trouble, I'd hate to imagine what we'd be up against if all seven of them manage to Digivolve..."

"It is our job to ensure that does not happen~" Mister Green quietly chuckled.

"I take it you've got a plan?"

"A plan? Oh, my dear Blue... I have several~" he chuckled again. "Ever since Mister Orange reported this in, I've been cooking up something special to ensure those kids aren't an issue to the Boss's plans."

"Well, you worry about that, then. I gotta report to the Boss about-"

"Oh, I've handled that for you already~" Green said with a chuckle, while Strikedramon grunted. "And after he learned of your failure, the Boss appointed me in charge of handling these pesky kids~! Whatever I need, the rest of you are to cooperate with~"

Another grunt from the dragon man. "What a pain... fine. What do you want?"

"I need you to get to my base right away. If the worst case scenario happens, your presence here will greatly assist the chances of success for my last line of defense."

"Alright... but what about the Chosen? Do we know where they're even heading?"

"I've already sent out a pair of spies to guide them in the right direction, don't you worry~! They will be Mister Red's problem for now." he chuckled. "Just get over here as fast as you can. We'll discuss my plans in greater detail." the water puddle shimmered again, and the figure inside of it was gone.

Strikedramon let out another gruff sigh, holding up the rubber duck he'd managed to rescue from the factory's explosion. "Somehow, I have a really bad feeling about this..."

Squeak squeak!

"Hmph... You always know what to say."

The Sun had lowered over the horizon, and eventually, so had the Moon, giving way to another sunrise that would soon sit high above the sky.

"Uuuuugh!! I'm so tiiiiiiired!" whined Mina as she struggled to stay on her feet. "Why is it so hooooot...!"

Alraumon marched closed to her partner, waving a handkerchief to hopefully provide Mina with a light breeze. "Hang on there, Mina-chan!"

Itsuka looked back at her, wiping some of the sweat on her forehead. "I think we're all being affected by this heat, but we really should move fast to get somewhere with actual shade."

For a while now, the forest around them had slowly thinned out, giving way to a rocky and sandy location without any trees, only patches of weeds.

"But my back huuuurts!" Mina cried again, "Why did we have to sleep on the floor; there was a rock jabbing me right in the spine all night!"

Kyouka looked back at her, "In case you haven't noticed, we're kinda lacking in hotels we can stay the night in."

Another loud groan left Mina. "Why did we even come here! Couldn't there be someplace better we could go through? Somewhere with actual shade?"

"Not if we want to reach Repeat Mountain in less than a month." said Saiko. "So just suck it up; you don't see the rest of us complaining, and we're no less unhappy about this than you are."

Mina grunted and pouted. She then glanced at the head of green hair nearby, and moved closer to him. "Midori-kuuuuunn..." she said in her most pitiful voice, "You can carry me, just for a few minutes, right? It'd be a cinch for you!"

Izuku jolted a bit, his cheeks turning a hint of pink at Mina's request (and how close she'd gotten while making it). "U-Uhm... well... I-I guess I-"

"Don't you dare even consider humoring her, Midoriya." Kyouka interjected, grabbing Mina by the back of her shirt and dragging her away from him. "Your legs work just fine, so you walk like the rest of us."

"C'mon Mina, you gotta toughen up!" said Candmon as he jumped, "Your legs will only get stronger the more you walk! You're building muscle! Just think of how much muscle you'll gain from this trip!"

Mina frowned slightly, her mind suddenly picturing herself with ludicrously muscular legs that were twice the thickness of the rest of her normally-proportioned body. "No, no, no, no! I don't want thaaat!" she quickly shook her head, whining increasingly loudly as her eyes grew moist.

Dracomon giggled. "Mina sure cries a lot, huh!"

Bakomon quietly hummed. "She is certainly quite vocal in her complaints..."

"Such behavior is unfitting for a Chosen One." scoffed Spadamon. "A real hero shouldn't be affected by something as negligible as a little heat."

"You take that back!" pouted Alraumon. "Mina-chan is so too a hero! So what if she's complaining; she's just speaking out her mind, that's all!"

"All I'm saying is, she should show more dignity than this."

"Mina-chan is full of dignity!" bristled Alraumon further, "She's got more dignity than anybo-"

"ICE CREAM TRUCK!!" shrieked out Mina as she forced past Alraumon and anyone else in front of her, unapologetically shoving past anyone in her way. Sure enough, when they regained their footing, they could see that Mina was rushing towards a lone ice cream truck, white and pink in coloration with a large pink swirly shape on its roof, sitting atop a small mound of sand.

Considering the last time they came across a lonesome truck, Izuku could maybe be a bit forgiven in immediately growing suspicious. "Ashido-san, be careful! It could be a trap like last time!"

"I don't think she's listening." said Camie with a light hum, Yui nodding along in agreement.

Mina skid to a halt in front of the truck, quickly banging on the closed window. "Hey! Hey! Anybody there? Open up! I need something cool right away! It's a matter of life or death here!"

The rest of the group also approached the truck, but a lot more wary.

"Camie, stay behind me." said Labramon as he prepared himself in case something were to suddenly jump out at them.

"Intelli-san, you too!" said Bakomon as he protected his partner.

"Maybe it's abandoned?" wondered Itsuka out loud as Mina failed to get any answer at first.

Mina frowned at the possibility, but only for a moment as she gained a dangerous glint in her eye when she looked back at the others. "In that case, it's OK for us to find our way inside, right~?"

Itsuka flinched. "A-Ashido-san, are you implying we break into a vehicle?"

"We've done it before." said Yui matter-of-factly.

"W-...Well... that's true..." Itsuka had to admit. And while it was a long shot, if they could get the truck to work, that would be incredibly helpful.

Mina quickly tried to door, but unlike last time, this one wasn't left unlocked for them. "Hmph... locked." she said before she started looking around. She smiled when she found what she was looking, finding a sturdy enough rock to pick up by herself, and start to lift it over her head as she aimed right at-

"Ashido-san, wait-!!"

CRASH!

Itsuka was too late to stop the pink menace, as she smashed open the driver seat's window with the rock, looking back at the group with a cheerful grin and a double peace sign. The rest just sighed at how impetuous she'd been, but before they could say anything, they all started hearing something moving inside the ice cream truck. And sure enough-

"HEY! What's the big idea!?" the window on the side of the truck swung open, two creatures glaring over at them. Both resembling some kind of mollusk, their large eyes were located atop stalks, with huge mouths that nearly took over their whole bodies, one being yellow while the other was green.

"S-Someone was in there!?" Izuku jolted.

"It's Geremon and Numemon!" pointed Spadamon.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Geremon

Level IV

Type: Mollusk

Attribute: Wrathful

A highly obstinate Digimon that is partners with Numemon! Ferocious and hotheaded, it will pick fights even with Digimon that are far stronger than it is! Since its offensive power is pathetically low, that is a very long list of Digimon. It likes to eat trash and other unmentionable things, powering up its special move Hyper Smell, which is a deadly belch!

Numemon

Level IV

Type: Mollusk

Attribute: Wrathful

A slug-like Digimon that prefers damp and dark places to make its home. It is of the same species as Geremon, seeing the more stubborn Digimon as someone to look up to. Normally placid, with a head empty of thoughts, but it is also highly territorial. When threatened, it humiliates its opponent with its Poop Throw special move!

---

"What gives you the big idea that you can start smashin' windows!" shouted the yellow Geremon.

"Yeah, what gives!" echoed the green Numemon.

"Well, I tried to knock, but you guys didn't answer!" said Mina, in no way remorseful.

Geremon huffed. "We were sleepin'! We didn't want to be disturbed!"

"I was havin' such a nice dream too!" Numemon exclaimed.

Mina only pouted and huffed. "Well that's not my problem! Had you just answered me, I wouldn't have assumed the truck was abandoned, so I wouldn't try to smash the window. So, really, it's your own fault when you think about it!"

Spadamon flinched, quickly frowning at Mina's distasteful display. "What kind of logic is that..."

"Are we completely sure this girl is training to be a hero?" asked Neemon, and while Kyouka wanted to stick up to her classmate, she couldn't exactly find the words to justify this.

"Hmm... you make a good point!" said Geremon.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry about that." nodded Numemon.

He actually bought it!? thought the others in shock.

Mina nodded proudly, glad to see the mollusks saw reason. "Thank you. Now, since we have your attention, I'd like to browse your selection of ice-"

"M-Mina-chan, wait!" Alraumon interrupted her, grabbing Mina by her hand to pull her away from the truck. "I don't think asking food from these guys is a good idea..."

"Eh? Why not?"

"Well... y-you see... Geremon and Numemon only eat... uhm..." Alraumon leaned in, whispering in Mina's ear.

"...WHAT!?" Mina quickly shouted, "THEY EAT POOP!? THAT'S GROSS!" she quickly turned to Geremon and Numemon, pointing at them, "THAT'S DISGUSTING! YOU GUYS ARE SICK! SICK, YOU HEAR ME!!"

Geremon jolted, quickly offended by this accusation. "Oh, what!? So you're too good to eat a little poop are ya!? I bet you eat with a knife and fork too, huh!? You're too good to eat with your hands like the rest of us!? You think you're better than me!?"

"Damn right I think I'm better than someone who eats poop!" Mina huffed, still shouting back at the Digimon despite everyone else trying to hold her back.

"Ashido-san, stop it!" Itsuka tried to calm her down.

"Don't start a fight where it isn't needed, you fool!" Saiko said as she grabbed Mina's arm to pull her back.

"BUT IT'S SO GROSS!!" Mina continued to harp on the subject. "I'm not wrong! You know that!"

Izuku quickly stepped closer, bowing his head towards the mollusk Digimon. "W-We're really sorry! Our friend didn't mean to offend you! W-What you choose to eat is nobody's business but your own!"

"Damn right it's not!" shouted Geremon, "If none of you can appreciate the delights of a delicious, nutritious poop, then that's your problem! I should teach you all a lesson for this insult, I should!

"...ah!" Numemon blinked, before grabbing his partner by the arm and pulling him back into the truck. "Please excuse us for just a second!" he told the Chosen before he dove under the counter with Geremon. "W-Wait, Geremon... weren't we supposed to be on the lookout for a bunch of humans?"

Geremon blinked, his voice lowering as they conversed. "Oh... yeah, that's right."

"You thinks these guys are it?"

"They could be... I know we have orders, but... agh! I'm just so mad now! I have it in my right mind to just handle these punks myself!"

"Uhm, excuse me?" the mollusk Digimon blinked as they were called, peeking up from the window to see Camie had stepped closer to the truck. "We're, like, kinda tired and melting from the heat. I know you must be pretty mad, but could you, like, give us a hand?"

The two Digimon stared at her for a few lengthy moments, before they grew just a bit more reddened.

"Ah- Well... ahem... I suppose there's no harm done, so we could probably help you out!" Geremon said, trying to play it cool.

"Y-Yeah... we could help..." Numemon shyly said, a lot more visibly embarrassed.

Camie beamed brightly at them. "Really* That's great! Like, thank you so much! You guys totally just saves our butts!"

Geremon cackled, only growing more embarrassed. "Geh-he-he! I-I mean, I guess we're kinda, like... heroes or somethin'!"

"Absolutely~!" Camie nodded, "I knew the moment I saw you that you were good people! I'm, like, totally blown away! Chivalry's not dead at all!"

Kyouka only watched flabbergasted as Camie continued to shower the two slugs in praise without once tripping over herself. "Is she... seriously flirting with them...?"

"C-Camie-chan... how could you do this to them, and yet ignore me..:!!" cried Neemon.

Mina looked more grossed out than astonished. "How can she say that stuff with a straight face!?"

"Quiet, you idiots!" Saiko hissed. "She's clearly trying to get on their good side after you nearly got us in trouble!" she said with her eyes focused squarely on Mina, who just pouted at the accusation. "Although... I guess just one look at Utsushimi-san, and it should be pretty obvious she's capable of holding such an influence on men... probably has plenty of experience doing so, given how natural she looks."

"...?" Izuku blinked, looking up at Saiko. "What do you mean?"

Saiko also blinked, looking a bit incredulously at him. "You cannot be serious, right?"

Izuku flinched, looking a bit embarrassed now. He genuinely didn't know what Saiko was trying to get at, but now he just felt like an idiot for not doing so and was too embarrassed to say anything else.

"Hey, guys! Geremon-san and Numemon-san just agreed to drive us to a village we can rest at!" Camie called out, her plan paying off quite nicely for all of them. Not only would they get a reprieve from the Sun, but they also wouldn't have to walk who knows how far to get to some type of settlement.

Unfortunately, the trip wasn't nearly as comfortable as they had hoped. Not only was the truck itself piping hot, without so much as AC to help soften the heat, but the inside of the ice cream truck was infested by a ghastly stench that permeated every inch of it. Six humans and seven Digimon were also left feeling a bit crowded in the back of the truck, only Camie having been allowed to sit in the front seats, next to Geremon and Numemon. All throughout the trip, Camie just kept a cheerful smile on her face as she made small talk with the mollusk Digimon, keeping them both entertained and on their good side. She somehow completely ignored the stench permeating the truck, unflinchingly keeping up her good mood as she spoke to the Digimon.

After what was probably only twenty minutes, but had felt like an hour, the truck finally came to a stop and allowed its passengers off.

"I can't possibly thank you enough for the ride~!" said Camie as she got out of the truck.

"Geh-heh! It was no trouble, Camie-chan!" said Geremon.

"Y-Yeah, no problem!" Numemon echoed.

"I'll be sure to remember what you did for us today, and like, cherish it forever!" she giggled.

"Y-Y'know, maybe one of these days, when you ain't so busy..." Geremon said, "Maybe we could take ya out someplace! Y'know, just us!"

"Maybe~" Camie hummed with a wink. "But we really should be going now. I'm sure we'll meet again soon~! Bye for now!" she turned and started walking up the dirt path, followed by the others. Geremon and Numemon both waved their goodbyes as well.

Once they were at a safe enough distance, Kyouka's entire body cringed. "That whole experience was gross on so many different levels..."

"I need a bath so baaaad..." whined Mina.

"I definitely agree with that, Mina-chan!" Camie cheerfully said. "A bath sounds heavenly right about now after having to deal with all of that stench. I just hope it didn't stick to my clothes, or something..."

"I can't help but be impressed at how well you managed to ignore it during the ride." mumbled Izuku, "That must take some incredible self-control, I almost felt like hurling several times, but you looked like it didn't affect you at all..." he looked at Camie, and for a brief moment, a small frown crossed his face as he found himself asking: "Are you OK, Utsushimi-senpai?"

Looking at him, Camie blinked, soon smiling at him. "OK? Yeah, I'm pretty peachy right now! Why do you ask?"

His frown deepened a bit, but more out of embarrassment than anything. "I-It's nothing, forget I asked!"

She blinked again, tilting her head for a moment, but quickly gave him a very mysterious smile, which got him to blush a bit and look down at his feet.

Behind them, Saiko's eyes narrowed as they focused on Camie, before her attention was snapped elsewhere-

"Look, everyone!" Bakomon spoke up as the small village finally came into view, urging everyone to pick up their pace, and get there as fast as possible. Not only because they were eager to get to civilization, but also because the surrounding environment was already looking far more inviting.

In the midst of a very arid and rocky wasteland, surrounded by imposing cliffs and ravines, it wasn't an exaggeration to call this place an oasis: beautiful greenery, bushes and trees, growing freely around a medium-sized lake of crystalline blue waters. The village itself was relatively small, maybe three times the size of Dawn Village by their best estimate. The simple wooden huts weren't much bigger than the ones in Dawn Village however, so this didn't strike as a good omen for their chances of meeting other humans.

And sure enough, just as they approached the edges of the village, they saw them floating in their direction. Six blue creatures hovering in the air, their bodies round and smooth, looking very gelatin-like in composition, two tine green horns poking out from the top of their heads (or bodies?), and two lengthy tentacles that ended in bulbous green tips. Peeking out from the gelatin-like bodies were two large black eyes staring curiously at the newcomers. If they didn't know any better, these almost looked... like jellyfish?

"Please let these ones be friendly..." Saiko murmured just as the small group of jellyfish approached them.

"Uhm... hello?" Izuku stepped up to try and greet the creatures. "We're sorry for intruding on your village, we don't mean bother you, but see, we've traveling for several days now, and we were wondering if-"

"We're hot, we're hungry, and we stink!" Mina quickly whined, "Please, please, please let us use a bath! Just for ten minutes! But at least thirty would be really nice!"

"Real smooth, Ashido..." Kyouka flatly stated.

"But of course!"

"You're more than welcome to stay!"

"Welcome, one and all!"

The jellyfishes' bubbly answers brought a shining hope back into everyone's faces. With a pop, bodies poked out from the bottom of the jellyfish, revealing their true small humanoid appearance, with tentacles for hair, long arms and strong-looking legs.

"Welcome to Jellymon Village!" they all greeted simultaneously.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Jellymon

Level III

Type: Mollusk

Attribute: Harmonious

With its flexible body, this Mollusk Digimon can retract itself into its jellyfish-like head. It is so lightweight that it enjoys being carried along by the wind. It prefers beautiful environments, and when it sees people disturb their lovely surroundings it will attack with an electrical discharge, Bibi Thunder, to punish them!

---

"This has certainly been the most welcome all of us have felt since stepping foot in this world place."

"The Jellymon greeted us with welcome arms into their village, and have been waiting on us hand and foot, to the best of their abilities. They offered us food and drink, even though they didn't seem to have much to offer; I felt kinda bad, but they insisted that it was fine for us to accept it. The food itself was little more than some grilled mushrooms, but after relying solely on fruit for the last few days, it felt like a feast. There were certainly some concerns, mainly brought up by Intelli, about the safety of those mushrooms, but Ashido and Utsushimi were quick to ignore her and try them out anyway. It's been maybe an hour since the meal as I'm writing this, and everyone seems to feel fine, thankfully."

"After the meal, the Jellymon brought us to their bathhouse, which was definitely rather surprising to find out they even had one. Their village seems so modest, but I suppose even Digimon enjoy some creature comforts. According to the Jellymon, their bathhouse is quite popular among travelers, which is why the building is comparatively larger than the simpler huts in the rest of the village. They've spent years remodeling and adding onto it, definitely turning it into an impressive tourist attraction. It really reminds me a lot of the sentou back in Japan, only... well, only if Ashido were put in charge of designing one? (And I mean that in the nicest way possible!)"

"The tiling all over the baths is striking in its color choices: deep purples and reds, full of zigzagging patterns in neon green or yellow, and murals of assorted geometrical patterns of countless different colors. I'm really not an artist by any means, so I can't say if it's artistically good or not, but I kinda like it. It's a strangely warm and inviting aesthetic, like it belongs to a bygone era I've never lived through, and yet somehow find myself attracted to its energy and positivity."

"In a way, it fits the Jellymon. At least, I feel like it does. They always seem to be in good spirits, but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't something bothering me about it. I try to think positive of people; maybe it's a bit naive of me, but I really do. And I do think the Jellymon want to help us, but every now and then, it's like I can see their good humor waver. It was especially noticeable when I asked one of the Jellymon something that had been bothering ever since we got to the village."

"Jellymon Village is small by modern standards, but I estimate it could still house around a hundred Jellymon. And yet, ever since we arrived, we've only seen a few dozen of them. The Jellymon said the others were all tending the mushroom fields, but she said so in a rather forced way. At least, that's how I saw it. Maybe I'm overthinking things, I'm not sure. None of the others seemed to notice it, at least, so maybe I'm jumping at shadows."

"Times like these, I think back to an English saying my dad once told me: 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'. Not sure why that's stuck with me. I don't know if I even fully understand it, but there it is. Maybe I just need to focus on something else."

"The Jellymon are definitely interesting, but then again, all of the Digimon have been so far. But finding a village of jellyfish-like Digimon this far inland strikes me as a particularly odd. Wouldn't they prefer to live closer to the ocean? Or am I making too many assumptions? I'd really like to ask them about this, but would that be too rude? I'm their guest, so I don't know if-"

"...?" Izuku blinked, sensing his arm get a bit warmer. And of course it would, when a very warm ball of fur had carefully scooted over next to him, wide yellow eyes curiously trying to sneak a peak at the notebook he had been scribbling on for the last several minutes. "Sorry, Spadamon, are you curious? You can read along if you want."

The white lion jolted a bit, quickly scooting away from Izuku a bit and sinking back down into the bath's water. "I-I wasn't curious! You just-... you looked really into writing, and I wanted to see what you were so invested in, that's all!"

That's called being curious, I think... Izuku quietly chuckled to himself. "Really, it's OK. I just decided that, since we don't really know how long it will take for us to get back home, I'd keep a journal of everything we've been through." he held out the book a bit for Spadamon to see, and was happy to see the lion scoot closer again to curiously look at its pages. "See? I've been recounting a lot of what we've been through up to now. I've also been taking notes on all the Digimon we've come across." he flipped through the pages, being very careful not to let the notebook get anywhere near the water. He'd pass by pages containing drawings of Saberdramon, Tsuchidarumon, Palmon, Gaogamon, along with several notes taken from their encounters; even Labramon, Dracomon, and-

"...is that me?"

Izuku nodded as he stopped at the page with Spadamon's entry. "Yeah. That's you."

"...hmph." the lion pouted as he sunk down to his chin in the water. "Looks nothing like me..."

"Eh?"

"I-I don't look that cute!" the lion argued. "I should look fierce! You make me look like- like a kitty! I should look like a warrior!"

Izuku felt his heart squeeze a tiny bit at Spadamon's petulant pouting, and how embarrassed the armored lion looked towards his drawing. "W-Well... I'm drawing most of these from memory, s-so I'm bound to get some details wrong!" Izuku tried to hold back his chuckling. "If you wouldn't mind posing for me later, I'd gladly try to capture your true warrior spirit."

Spadamon's cheeks grew noticeably redder as he slowly sunk further into the water. "W-Well... i-if you insiblublublublublub..."

Izuku could only chuckle quietly, and remind himself to keep at least one drawing of Spadamon looking cute. "Actually, I guess since we're here; hey, Neemon, do you mind if I start on your-" he went quiet when he noticed the pure black miasma of grief-filled despair coming from the other end of the bathing room.

Neemon stood at the very end of the room, shoulders sagging, his head pressed against the wall as he quietly muttered repeatedly: "Why... why... why me... WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE STUCK WITH YOU TWO!?" he let out a shrill cry towards an uncaring universe.

The bathhouse did have unique rooms for both men and women, which did kinda surprised Izuku at first (all of the Jellymon looked pretty feminine, but maybe he was just making too many assumptions again). This was a pretty good news, since it meant Izuku didn't have to wait or anything for his turn to get nice and clean. Despite the other Digimon, Labramon and Candmon, seemingly identifying as male, the girls were fine with them being on their side of the bathhouse (Camie had even invited Spadamon to join, but the lion had managed to respectfully decline between a lot of embarrassed sputtering).

Neemon, though, had been the exception to this.

"HOW IS THIS FAIR!? IT'S AN OUTRAGE, IS WHAT IT IS!!" Neemon cried tears of blood as he struck his head against the wall standing in the way between him and Nirvana. "Why do those twerps get to be over there, while I'm stuck here!? Am I not cute enough!? THIS IS DISCRIMINATION, I TELL YA!!"

Spadamon's expression flattened at his fellow Digimon's behavior. "Do you really have to act so childishly? Bakomon isn't with the others either, and you don't hear him complaining."

"THAT DOESN'T COUNT! BAKOMON'S NOT EVEN IN HERE WITH US!" Neemon shrieked.

Hearing his name mentioned, Bakomon peeked out from the doorway. "I-It's fine! I'll just get my bath once you three are done! B-But don't feel the need to hurry or anything! I am more than happy to wait!"

"We'll try and not be too long, Bakomon." Izuku assured him. He could pretty easily tell the strange Digimon was a bit too shy to bathe in front of others, which did make Izuku wonder a bit about how Bakomon actually... well, functioned. For a while he'd started wondering if Bakomon was just made out of cardboard, but if he's acting this shy, then maybe the cardboard does come off, and he's simply too embarrassed to show his naked form?

"It's not fair... it's not faaaaaaair..." Neemon continued to cry, getting Spadamon to scoff.

"Will you please control yourself just once, and act more like a Chosen Digimon should?"

"If I could at least get to look at Camie-chan in a towel... is that too much to ask... is it too much to ask to die a happy man after a lifetime of misery...?" Neemon continued muttering, lost in his own little word of self-pity and despair.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall...

Mina blinked and glanced behind her. "Did you guys hear that?"

Alraumon blinked, looking up at her partner who sat on the edge of the bath to soak her feet. "Hear what, Mina-chan?"

"What do you mean?" asked Itsuka as she lowered herself onto the bath.

"Not sure... it sounded like a heavy thud, and then someone crying?"

"I didn't hear anything." said Kyouka, relaxed as she could be. "Although, I do feel strangely pleased with myself all of a sudden..."

"Labramon has good hearing!" Dracomon suggested. "Maybe he heard something?"

The dog Digimon looked over at the mention of his name from the showering area. "Hm? I'm sorry, I couldn't really hear anything over the- heep!" he flinched as Camie opened the faucet, spraying him with the shower.

"Hold still, you~!" cooed Camie as she rinsed off the rest of the shampoo off of Labramon's body.

Back at the bath, Candmon stared a bit uncertainly at the water, crouching at the very edge of the tub. Yui was already sitting inside, carefully watching his furrowed brow.

"Are you sure it's safe for him to be here?" asked Saiko who sat close by.

Yui answered with a nod and a hum. "As long as the fire doesn't get wet. Should be fine."

"That's not what I meant." Saiko frowned, "I mean... what is Candmon's body even made of? Is it real wax? How do we know it isn't toxic, and he could contaminate the water by stepping inside?"

"It's fine." Yui simply answered.

"And how do you know that?"

"It's fine."

"That is not really an answer-"

"It's fine." Yui answered again in the exact same tone, leading Saiko to wonder if she was deliberately doing this just to get under her skin.

Candmon's frown, meanwhile, only grew. "I'm not sure I should get in, Yui... I've never really liked water..."

"It's OK." Yui assured him in her usual monotone, reaching up to give him a gentle pat on the top of his head, much to the Digimon's delight.

Saiko felt a bit relieved, although she did take note Yui didn't seem to have any problem touching Candmon. Touching hot wax would surely get a reaction out of even someone like her, so maybe Candmon wasn't made out of real wax after all? These Digimon really confused her to no end...

"Hmm... OK, I'm heading out." Mina announced as she got up to her feet.

Itsuka blinked. "Already? It's only been a few minutes. Weren't you the one clamoring for a bath?"

"I still am!" Mina said with a grin, "But I'm also really hungry!"

Itsuka flinched a bit. "H-Hungry...?"

"Well, yeah! I barely ate anything! I wanna see if they have more of those mushrooms."

"Wait for me, Mina-chan!" Alraumon said as she hopped out of the bath to follow her partner.

Itsuka blinked, growing a bit more concerned. "N-Now, hold on a minute, Ashido-san! The reason we all ate so little is because we don't want to impose on the Jellymon any more than we have to!"

"Pshh!" Mina scoffed. "Who's imposing? They said they were happy to give us food, right? If they're offering, then there's no problem! Let's go, Alrau-chan!"

Itsuka opened her mouth to argue, but before she knew it, Mina and Alraumon had already exited into the changing room. Instead of following them, Itsuka just sighed and slumped back down into the bath. "Unbelievable... is she always this-" Itsuka quickly closed her mouth, just about to say something without really thinking it through.

"Self-centered? Selfish?" luckily(?) Kyouka had no qualms with finishing that thought. "I wouldn't say all the time, but... Ashido's just kinda off in her own little world most of the time."

Saiko was quick to scoff. "And someone like that is still a part of UA's Hero course? Either she is secretly some sort of secret savant, or UA's standards aren't quite so strict as we're lead to believe."

"You don't have to be such a jerk about it, you know?" Kyouka frowned, clearly ready to defend her classmate. "I mean, sure, Ashido's not the smartest, and she can be kind of a crybaby, or lazy and irresponsible-"

Are you actually defending her, or...? Itsuka decided it best that she kept that thought to herself.

"But she's good at what she does, when she puts her mind to it." Kyouka concluded. "She scores the highest out of all the girls in our class in physical exams, and is only behind perfectionist freaks like Bakugou and Todoroki."

"Hmph..." Saiko leaned back against the wall. "It's one thing to have the physical skills, but does she have the mental fortitude required to even do her job?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Being a Hero is more than just being able to fight, you know? There are a lot of sacrifices to be made; a lot of darkness that you have to face... if you don't have the right strength of character, you might just crack under all the pressure. Every year, thousands of Pro Heroes suffer nervous breakdowns because of this, leading to many of which to quite Heroics altogether."

Kyouka didn't really respond, only gaining a pensive frown. While she clearly wasn't happy with Saiko badmouthing someone she considered a fairly close friend, Kyouka clearly couldn't bring herself to say the girl was wrong in her questioning.

Itsuka couldn't help but notice the tension rising, and felt the need to say something. "Guys, come on, let's not talk about someone behind their back like this."

Saiko sighed. "All I'm saying is, if Ashido-kun is serious about pursuing this career, then she'd better start thinking about maturing a bit quicker. For her own sake."

"Choco~! Choco-choco! Cho-co-late milk~!" Mina happily sang as she took out two bottle of chocolate milk from the cooler in the changing room, placing one in the pocket of her fluffy white robe, so helpfully provided by the Jellymon. "Here you go, Alrau-chan! I can't believe you've never tried choco milk! It's the best! Especially after a bath!"

Alraumon took the small brown and white bottle with a cheerful hum. "You really think so? I can't wait to try it!"

"Now, let's see..." Mina looked around the changing room, but found that their clothes already weren't there. This was to be expected, since the Jellymon had said they would wash them while they enjoyed their bath. "Ah well! I'll just take the robe, I guess."

Mina and Alraumon exited the changing rooms in search of a Jellymon that could help with Mina's hunger situation. And thankfully, she did spot a Jellymon just as they were about to exit out the front door.

"Oh! Hey, wait up!"

The Jellymon jolted at the sound of Mina's voice, turning around to see the pink girl and her Digimon head outside after them. And just their luck, the Jellymon even carried Mina's clothes and Digivice on her arms!

"O-Oh, excuse me, b-but I'm in a bit of a hurry!" the Jellymon tried their best to excuse themselves.

"It'll only take a second! Promise!" Mina assured them as she and Alraumon stepped closer to the (increasingly nervous) Jellymon. "Hey, listen, were there any of those mushrooms left? Because I'm still pretty-"

"Ashido-san?"

Mina blinked, looking behind her to see Izuku step out of the bathhouse, also in a robe and sandals. "Oh, hey, Midori-kun!"

"What are you doing out here?"

"I was just gonna ask about getting some more food; I'm starving!" she said with a wide grin. "How about you? Where's your kitty cat?"

"Ah, well, Spadamon stayed behind. He said he wanted to make sure Neemon didn't try anything... u-uncouth."

"Aww! What a little gentleman! Remind me to thank him for looking out for us!"

"As for me, actually-" he pointed at the (still terrified) Jellymon carrying Mina's clothes, "I was going to ask where the Jellymon took my clothes. I wanted to poke around the Digivice a bit more."

"Really? Haven't you pretty much exhausted every button combination by now?"

Izuku chuckled a bit. "Kinda, b-but you never know! Maybe there's something I'm still missing." he then turned to the jellyfish Digimon. "So, could you show me the way to where you're taking our things?"

"Yeah, and show me the way to the kitchen!" Mina added.

The Jellymon only grew more and more nervous, their whole body shaking as they glancing around them, as if desperately trying to find an escape route. "W-W-Well... y-you see... i-i-it's just that...-!"

Alraumon sipped on the chocolate milk, but suddenly spat out the drink as she realized- "Mina-chan! I'm sensing something!"

Mina and Izuku blinked, looking at the Digimon in confusion. "What do you-"

"WATCH OUT!"

Before Mina could finish her question, Alraumon shouted, quickly shoving the two humans out of where they stood. Because, down from the ground, two pairs of yellow vines burst out from the dirt, quickly entangling around Alraumon and lifting her off of the ground.

"Alraumon!"

"Ashido-san, wait!" Izuku called out, getting Mina to stop as her eyes widened, seeing the two figures that had just burst out from the ground. Their eggplant-like bodies were greenish-yellow in color, with red markings around their sharp red eyes and pointy mouths. A set of six red and blue leaves poked out from the top of their heads, and their arms were lengthy vines; red dorsal scales also trailed down their back, along with a swirly tail.

"Hyuck-hyuck-hyuck! Look'it what we caught!" cackled one of the eggplants.

"We picked a purrdy flower! Hyuck-hyuck!" laughed the other one.

Mina took a step back. "M-More Digimon...!?"

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Vegimon

Level IV

Type: Insectivorous Plant

Attribute: Wrathful

A plant Digimon that feeds on insects. It uses a sweet-smelling scent to attract smaller Digimon closer to it, where it can then strike from its hiding place and bully them into submission! A timid Digimon that will run away the moment someone stronger stands up to it, using its Super Stinky Spray to make a sudden getaway!

---

"Alraumon!" Mina cried out when the Vegimon squeezed harder on her partner Digimon, Alraumon letting out a cry of pain. Immediately afterwards, a blur of white and green dashed past her, Izuku's foot meeting with one of the Vegimon's face to kick it away. Izuku then landed on the ground, and immediately aimed a roundhouse kick to swat aside the other Vegimon, the creature letting out a shriek, and most importantly letting go of Alraumon.

Izuku caught the falling Alraumon in his arms, quickly dashing closer to Mina afterwards to hand her partner back to her.

"Alraumon! Are you alright?" she worriedly asked, and thankfully the Digimon nodded.

"I'm OK, Mina-chan!" she said before trying to squirm her way out of Mina's arms. "I-I have to protect you!"

"D-Don't be ridiculous! It's two against one! You can't-" Mina was interrupted with a squeak, as one of the Vegimon lashed out its vines against her. But before they could reach her, Izuku had stepped in front of Mina and grabbed the vines with his hands, One For All working at its fullest capacity just to keep up.

"Ashido-san, you have to warn the others! This was a trap all along!"

Before Mina could start running back into the bathhouse, one of the Vegimon had quickly jumped in front of the entrance. "Hyuck-hyuck! You ain't goin' nowhere, missy!"

"Besides, it's too late for your lil' friends anyway! Hyuck-hyuck-hyuck!"

Mina held on to Alraumon tighter out of instinct, her eyes widening. "W-What do you-... what did you do to them!?"

"As we speak, the bathhouse is gettin' flooded with knockout gas! Hyuck-hyuck!" the Vegimon answered. "They should be sleepin' all peaceful like by now!"

"Hyuck-hyuck-hyuck! You three were supposed to be in there too! Now ya gone and done made this harder on us hard-workin' folk!" the other Vegimon said. "But don't worry, we'll be lockin' you up with the others too! Hyuck-hyuck-hyuck!"

Power coursed through Izuku's body as he saw another vine whip attack coming his way. Rather than dodge it, he spun around and kicked the vine before launching himself towards the Vegimon, planting his knee right in the plant Digimon's face. Then he immediately jumped off from it, throwing himself at the other Vegimon with an axe kick down on his head. The first Vegimon had quickly recovered however, swiping at Izuku for another vine whip, but he had already jumped out of the way, leaving the Vegimon to accidentally smack its own ally right in the face.

Izuku landed on the ground, preparing for another attack against the Vegimon, but-

"Red Thorn!"

He heard the shout coming from behind him, but he was much too slow. A prickly thick vine slammed right into Izuku's side, nearly knocking the wind out of him before sending him crashing into the wall of a nearby hut.

"MIDORI!" Mina yelled, frozen in place as a new enemy dragged itself into the scene.

"Hrrrrrrrh... Can't you dang ol' lugs do anything right!?" the much larger eggplant shouted at the Vegimon. The new monster looked very similar to them, only much larger and bright red, with the ends of its vines being thicker and spiky, and a much wider mouth filled with sharp teeth.

The Vegimon jolted, quickly intimidated by their leader. "W-We're sorry, Mister Red!"

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

RedVegimon

Level IV

Type: Plant

Attribute: Wrathful

A fully ripened Vegimon that has grown in much harsher environments! Its offensive abilities are much higher than its fellow Plant brethren, as is its cunning and viciousness. When it gets into a fight, it quickly disables its opponents by spewing a putrid, poison-laced stench— Hazard Breath —before pummeling them to submission.

---

"How hard can it be to wrangle up some dang ol' brats!" RedVegimon snorted. "And you-!" he pointed at the Jellymon, who only looked terrified at the prospect of getting the plant Digimon angry. "What're you still doin' here!? Get that dang ol' Digivice over with the others! Pronto!"

The Jellymon shakily nodded their head before turning to leave, but in a flash, Izuku dashed straight past RedVegimon with tremendous speed and lunged towards the Jellymon.

"What the dang ol'-!?" RedVegimon flinched, not expecting the boy to get up so quickly after his attack. He swung his flail-like vine, slamming it against Izuku again to get him away from the Jellymon. "I say, stay down, boy! If ya know what's good for ya, ya dang ol' jumpin' jack!"

It took a lot of Izuku's remaining strengths to not fall down to the ground and remain on his feet, before he could turn around and throw something through the air. "ASHIDO! RUN!"

Mina flinched, but Alraumon had the wherewithal to hold out her arms and grab hold of the Digivice Izuku had thrown their way. "Mina-chan! Let's go!"

Her body quickly moved, spinning around on her heel to get the hell out of dodge.

"After her, ya dang ol' stupid idiots!!" shouted RedVegimon, urging the other Digimon to start hopping after Mina, only for Izuku to immediately lunge against them and stop them.

Mina could hear the Vegimon shouting as their attention turned to Izuku. They pinned him down with their vines, and she heard Izuku's cries of pain as they lashed him with their vines. Something deep inside of her told her to turn around; to go back for Izuku; to not run away without first saving him!

But she just kept running...

"Come on, hurry up!" shouted RedVegimon, "Get those dang ol' brats in those dang ol' cages already!"

The Jellymon silently struggled as they carried the unconscious humans and their Digimon into separate cages. They knew they would only anger RedVegimon further by taking the extra time to cover up the humans with the robes, but the Jellymon figured the very least they could do for them was maintain their decency.

Izuku was the only one not kept in a cage, instead being suspended from a wooden pole by a thick rope. He was bruised and bleeding from the pummeling he'd received from earlier, but he was still conscious and able to see where they were being carried off to. The journey had taken them out of the village, and into the cliffs where, piece by piece, Izuku put things together. He saw the rest of the Jellymon Village's population, pushing around mine carts, digging into the earth and rock with pickaxes, their bodies covered in dirt and bruises. More Vegimon watched over them, snapping at any Jellymon that dared to show fatigue, and whipping them back to work with their vines.

This whole time, the Jellymon had been forced to work for the Vegimon; no doubt the trap was their doing as well.

"Right, leave 'em here!" RedVegimon ordered, urging the Jellymon who had been dragging along the metal cages to finally stop and, hopefully, get some rest. A hope that was quickly shattered when RedVegimon barked out- "Now, get back to work! All of ya!"

The Jellymon raised only the weakest of dissensions, before the Vegimon immediately whipped them to cull their complaints, and force them all back to work in the mining operation.

Izuku's blood was boiling as he saw the horrible way the Jellymon were being forced to work, but he simply couldn't gather the strength to break free from his bindings. "What are you going to do to us?" he snarled down at RedVegimon, who just looked up at him with a very indifferent look on his face.

"Me? If it were up to me, I'd get you dang-ol' kids to work in the mines along with these dang-ol' whimps!" he scoffed. "But that's up to Mister Green to decide, not me. For now, I'll just keep you where I can dang-ol' know you won't be meddlin' any longer!"

A Vegimon hopped to approach his boss, carrying six Digivice in its arms. "Mister Red, what do we do with these?"

"Put 'em in my trailer, obviously! Do I dang-ol' need to tell ya to breathe as well!?" RedVegimon shouted, urging the other plant Digimon to immediately leave with a stream of apologies. RedVegimon let out a snort, before looking up at Izuku again. "Now you just hang on tight up there, boy! By this time tomorrow, my boys will have found your other friend, and you'll all be off my hands, and I'll get a dang-ol' great reward from Boss Gray, that's for sure!"

Izuku grit his teeth as RedVegimon hopped away with a cackle. He hated how powerless he felt right now, all of that anger in his chest wanting desperately to burst out and do something to change this whole situation around, but being unable to. "D...dammit..."

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Izuku or RedVegimon, a pair of black eyes watched over the area from a safe advantage point...

"There they are!" Alraumon said, pointing at the distant cages.

"W-Wow, you're really good at tracking, Alrau-chan..." Mina said, looking down on the cliff.

"Following the polen of other plant Digimon is easy for me!" Alraumon confidently said. "And Vegimon polen is the easiest of them all, because it smells terrible! Yuck!"

The two remained hidden behind a rock, getting as close as they felt comfortable with to the mining area.

"What do you think they're doing down there?"

"Not sure..." said Alraumon. "But the Jellymon clearly don't want to be there. We've gotta save them, along with everybody else, Mina-chan!"

Mina nodded. "R-...right!" what was that pause for? She tried to ignore it. "Alright, think Mina, think... what would Midori have to say about this..." she looked around the area, slowly trying to make up a plan, but the longer she did, the less any ideas actually came to her. "There's... there's way too many of those Vegimon creeps..."

"Maybe we should wait for nighttime?" suggested Alraumon.

"R-Right! That's what we should do! They have to sleep sometimes, and when they do, we'll sneak in, a-and free our friends!"

"That's a perfect plan! I expected nothing less from Mina-chan!"

Mina chuckled, but soon found herself squirming a bit from her hiding place. She looked back down at the mines, and the dozen or more Vegimon patrolling the area. Her hands grew sweaty, and her body was trembling a bit. She could do this! She could totally do this!

Under the dead of night, two shadows snuck around the mining camp. The area was poorly lit up thanks to a few cheap spotlights, providing them with a great cover from the darkness as they slipped by undetected.

Vegimon guards still dotted the camp, but they weren't very numerous at this hour, giving them plenty of blindspots to take advantage of, and draw closer to the center of the mining camp.

Mina could feel her heart beating in her head. She was jumping at every noise, every pebble that was dislodged from its place, every tired yawn that came from the Vegimon guards, feeling like at any second, any single noise they make could give away their position. She looked at Alraumon, and saw nothing but determination on her Digimon's face. Was she even nervous? Did she even realize the danger they were in!? How could she not be freaking out right now!? Mina was starting to have trouble breathing, her heart beating so fast that it felt like it was pounding inside her skull, and-

"Mina-chan, look!" Alraumon whispered, unknowingly snapping Mina out of her panic attack. She looked where the plant Digimon was pointing at, and saw that they'd actually made it! The cages were just a few meters away from them!

It seemed like the other girls and the Digimon had regained consciousness up at some point during the day, as they were still awake even this late in the day. She could see Dracomon chomping down on the metal bars of their cages, but to no avail.

Mina took in a shaky breath. "O-...OK... n-now what...?"

"I think that guard has the key." Alraumon pointed at the lone Vegimon guard, with a belt that had a set of key dangling from it. "If we can grab those, then we can free everyone!"

"How do we do that...?"

"I have pretty nimble fingers, so just leave it to me!" Alraumon said, and the two slowly made their way closer to the cages, and closer to the Vegimon guard.

Inside the cages, Labramon's ear twitched as he heard someone approach, looking up to see the familiar forms of Mina and Alraumon. His eyes widened, but he knew better than to say anything, as even the slightest of noises could alert the gua-

"Hey, look! It's Mina and Al-mmph!" Labramon immediately jumped to cover Candmon's big mouth, but unfortunately not fast enough.

"'Ey, what's that racket!" grumbled the Vegimon guard as he approached the Digimon cage.

"M-My apologies, I just stepped on his foot by accident!" Labramon quickly explained.

The Vegimon just grunted, picking up a stick nearby and jabbing it between the cage's bars just to pester the Digimon inside by poking them with it. "Well, you keep your mouths shut from now on, y'hear!" with another grunt he finally turned and walked back to where he had been sitting, grumbling all the way about having to babysit a bunch of- "Huh?" the Vegimon blinked, seeing a brown and white bottle of chocolate milk left out unattended atop a rock. "Ooooh~! Lucky!" he cheered. "Heheh! One of the other Vegimon must've forgotten their lunch! Well, well, too bad for them! Early bird gets the worm!"

As the Vegimon enjoyed his refreshing (well actually, it was kinda warm) beverage, a trio of vines stretched out from behind the rock. Alraumon had to be very careful as she used her Nemesis Ivy to reach the Vegimon, her tendrils coiling around the keys and gently lifting them off the Digimon's belt. Unfortunately-

"Ah man, that sure hit the spot!" the Vegimon exclaimed as he finished his beverage. "Kinda warm, but still tasty!" he quickly turned around and slumped against the rock with a lengthy sigh. "Aahhh... if only I wasn't stuck watchin' over these twerps... a nap sounds really good, right about now!"

Mina and Alraumon flinched as they had missed their window of opportunity. With Alraumon looking up at her for direction, Mina felt like the spotlight was thrust onto her to come up with an alternate plan on the spot.

"...M-...Mori mo iyagaru~... Bon kara saki nya~" Mina gently started to sing. "Yuki mo chiratsuku shi, ko mo naku shi~! Bon ga kita tote, nani ureshikaro...~!"

As Mina's gentle lullaby continued, the Vegimon took in a deep, slow breath, followed by a lengthy yawn. He stretched out his arms and slumped further down the rock he had rested upon, and soon enough, began gently snoring as he drifted off into sleep.

Mina and Alraumon let out stereo sighs as Mina's gamble had payed off. With a quick thumbs up from her partner, Alraumon felt reinvigorated and full of energy to not let Mina down after this! She reached out towards the keys, gently removing them from the belt, and... success! They got the keys, and quickly made their way back to the cages.

"Guys! Guys, we're here to rescue you!" Mina said with a wide grin.

"A-Ashido-san?" Itsuka said, clearly surprised to see her.

"Way to go, Ashido! Now that's what I call being a Hero!" Kyouka cheered, unable to hold back a bit of a smug look towards Saiko. "Wouldn't you agree...?"

Saiko flinched, her cheeks growing a bit red. "R-Right... Ashido-kun! Listen to me!" Saiko scooted over to the cage's bars, "You have to free the Digimon first. It's the most logical thing to do; that way, they can Digivolve and deal with these hoodlums!"

"But don't they need the Digivices for that?" Mina asked.

"...shoot!" Saiko cursed under her breath.

"Ashido-san, let me down..."

They blinked, hearing Izuku's voice as he hung nearby.

"I can use my Quirk to get the Digivices back as fast as possible."

"Midoriya-san, I don't think you should be moving." Itsuka spoke up, clearly concerned. "You look terrible-"

"I'm fine!" he tried to assure them. "It's just a few scrapes and bruises; nothing's broken, and all I need to do is get the Digivices and run back here. I can do this, I promise!"

Mina frowned, but she didn't exactly have any better plans. "Alraumon, you unlock the cages." she said while handing over the keys to her partner.

"You got it, Mina-chan!"

Mina nodded before moving over to where Izuku was. The pole he was tied to was rather tall, leaving Izuku dangling a few inches above her head. "Alright, time to put my training to some use!" she whispered to herself before pressing her hands against one another, palm to palm, and aiming them up at the ropes binding Izuku together. She'd started practicing a new way of getting a more precise acid jet as a possible ultimate move, but while she'd normally feel pretty confident about it, the truth was that she couldn't even be certain her acid was strong enough right now. She could barely make wood sizzle ever since arriving on this weird place, so she couldn't really be sure she could burn through thick rope.

But she'd made it this far; what point was there to back down now?

She shot out a short stream of acid, managing to hit the rope above Izuku perfectly! Not too shabby, she thought to herself! She could hear the rope sizzling, but it was taking a while to just get a little plume of smoke going, let alone actually burning through the damn thing. Mina was growing restless, and had it in her right mind to just try and climb up there and gnaw her way through the rope herself, until-

FLASH!

The glare of multiple spotlights shone down on her. She'd been spotted, the various Vegimon all shouting at the sight of the intruder.

"Well, what the dang-ol' do we have here!" RedVegimon scoffed as he approached the area. "We dang-ol' got ourselves a dang-ol' rat in the dang-ol' camp! Little girl, what the dang-ol' do ya think you're doin'!"

Mina flinched as the plant Digimon adressed her. She was shivering, barely able to feel her legs even as her brain told her to just run, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

"You think you can just dang-ol' waltz in here and dang-ol' steal these dang-ol' doodads from me, huh?" he cackled as he showed the Digivices he carried, his vines wrapped tightly around them. "I can dang-ol' tell ya, that ain't dang-ol happenin' tonight, little girl!"

"ASHIDO, LOOK OUT!"

She couldn't move. The vines from the Vegimon that flanked RedVegimon wrapped around her throat, yanking her down and forcibly dragging her over towards their boss.

"MINA-CHAN!!" Alraumon cried out, rushing towards her partner's aid, before she too was ganged up by a pair of Vegimon who swatted her down with their whip-like vines.

Mina let out a choke as the Vegimon's vines clenched tighter around her neck. Tears poured down her face, everything happening around her being drowned out by pure panic as she clawed at the vines in the vain hope she could get them off of her, in the vain hopes that she could still get away.

Mom... Dad... I don't want to die here-!!

She let out a loud scream, forcing it through her constricted throat. And she heard Alraumon shout her name, before the light engulfed her.

The Vegimon shrieked by the brilliant flash of light that nearly blinded them, coming from both Mina's Digivice, as well as Alraumon.

"Alraumon, Digivolve to...!!!"

The small Digimon began to grow into a humanoid shape, the pale flower atop her head blossoming further into radiant pink petals. Her long leaf-like arms hardened into thorny, thick vines, as her body was covered in baggy red hakama trousers and a yellow shirt. At the ends of her arms bloomed two pink flowers, each have a face that mirrored her own: a ghostly white complexion, adorned with red markings and surrounded by sakura petals, along with a vibrant mane of long red hair.

"KABUKIMON!!"

RedVegimon could only tremble where he stood, staring in fear as what he had tried so hard to avoid had happened right in front of him. "N-No...! It ain't gonna dang-ol' end like this! Vegimon! Get that dang-ol' Digimon!" the Vegimon all shouted in unison at their leader's order, beginning to quickly surround Kabukimon.

Crossing her arms in front of her, Kabukimon didn't seem threatened. With a grand sweeping motion, she swung her lengthy hair out in front of her, moving her head and upper body in a circle to whip her hair in a spiral. "Cherry Blossom Blizzard!" sakura petals soon emerged from her hair, spawning with such intensity and great numbers that they quickly began to overwhelm the whole area, creating a thick cloud of pink that disoriented her enemies and kept them from attacking.

"Wh-What the dang-ol' are you all dang-ol' waitin' for!" cried out RedVegimon, "Dang-ol' attack already-!! What the-!?" when RedVegimon looked back at Kabukimon, she was no longer there.

Instead, she had leapt straight up the air, slicing through the rope holding Izuku hostage with the sharpened petals on her flowers.

Izuku felt the power course through him- "One For All... 100%!!" and the second his feet touched the floor, he launched himself like a rocket through the cloud of petals, and towards RedVegimon, slamming a foot into the Digimon's belly, and forcing him to drop the Digivices. Izuku quickly grabbed them, before rushing back towards the cages. "Guys, here-!" he held out the Digivices towards the others, who quickly grabbed hold of them.

"Dracomon!"

"Labramon!"

"Neemon!"

"Candmon!"

They aimed their Digivices towards their Digimon, the bright light quickly filling them with power.

"Dracomon, Digivolve to... AIRDRAMON!" the transformation into the mighty dragon immediately shattered the cage around the Digimon, as Airdramon took flight, frightening the Vegimon that were on guard higher up the cliff.

"Labramon, Digivolve to... DOBERMON!" the dog Digimon leapt out into the fray, swatting aside several Vegimon with a single paw swipe.

"Neemon, Digivolve to... NANIMON!!" who quickly jumped out with a powerful punch to one Vegimon, followed by a swift kick to another. "OH YEAH!! It's Hero time, baby!!"

"Candmon, Digivolve to... MERAMON!!!" the fiery Digimon blazed with righteous fury. "HWOOOAAAAAAHH!!! LET'S GOOOO!!" and began blasting fireballs to scatter all of the remaining Vegimon.

RedVegimon could only whimper in horror as his own men yelled out in fear, running around in a panic like headless chickens. Maybe he could still run away, if he could just- "Eeek!!" he let out a shriek as he turned around, seeing Kabukimon standing in his path as she craddled Mina on her arm.

The girl wiped the tears off her eyes, before aiming a glare towards the enemy Digimon. "Kabukimon... kick his ass!!"

"RedVegimon! You force your way into the lives of those who seek only to live in peace, and use violence to get them to obey you! You take great joy in the suffering of others! Such heinous crimes cannot go unanswered!" Kabukimon held her hand up in the air, before taking a stance with her legs wide apart. "I am Kabukimon! And in the name of the cherry blossom..." she then aimed her hand towards the villain, "I WILL PUNISH YOU!"

"D-...Don't you dang-ol' toy with me...!!" RedVegimon spat. "I'll still dang-ol' kill ya all!!" he cried out as he charged towards Kabukimon.

"Cherry Blossom Blizzard!" Kabukimon swung her head, directing the sakura petals to begin surrounding RedVegimon and block his path, completely covering his vision with a wall of pink. Carefully setting Mina down, Kabukimon then aimed both her hands towards RedVegimon, their mouths opening to unleash twin vibrant, multi-colored beams of raging light that cut through the wall of the sakura petals, blasting RedVegimon and sending him flying backwards with a cry.

The eggplant Digimon landed heavily on the ground, whimpering and sobbing as he yelled out- "R-Retreat... RETREEEEEAT!!" before he ran away with his tail between his legs, quickly followed by all the Vegimon that hadn't already ran away from their posts.

The sakura petals dispersed, and finally, the area would grow peaceful once more.

The Jellymon crawled out from their hiding places, their eyes welling up with tears as they cheered for their saviors.

To say everyone needed some rest was an understatement. As soon as both Digimon and human got back to Jellymon Village, and found themselves on their beds, they were immediately out like a light to get some much deserved sleep.

The next morning was filled with celebration by the Jellymon for the Chosen Ones, with plenty of singing and dancing, along with a great feast by using all the food they had manage to hide away from RedVegimon.

As the festivities happened around them, Neemon hummed in deep thought as he inspected a piece of ore brought from the mining camp. "Yep, no doubt about it. This is Digizoid ore."

"Digizoid?" Camie blinked.

"I've never heard of such a thing!" Saiko huffed.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't change the fact that's what it is." Neemon shrugged.

"You use this ore to make Chrome Digizoid, the hardest metal in existence. It's a real super-metal!" Bakomon explained further.

"So... you can't eat it?" Candmon wondered.

Kyouka frowned slightly. "What do you think those guys needed with that stuff?"

"I can't say I've ever seen a Vegimon wielding a sword... or even wearing a helmet, for that matter." Spadamon mused aloud.

"In that case, they probably weren't gathering it for themselves." Izuku theorized. "And that can only mean..."

"Boss Gray..." Yui concluded, as she munched on a particularly large mushroom.

Labramon hummed. "The mysterious leader..."

"Just hearing that name is starting to give me the shivers!" Camie said with a pout.

"Dracomon's not afraid of no boss bully!" the dragon confidently said.

Izuku nodded. "Between the factory, and now this... just what is really going on here..."

"...well!" Mina clapped her hands, "I'll let you guys worry about figuring that out!" she stood up from her seat. "Let's go, Alrau-chan!"

Itsuka blinked. "Where are you going, Ashido-san?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she said. "To take a bath! I barely got to enjoy it yesterday before those jerks interrupted us!"

Saiko flinched. "Even after all of that..."

"You still want to go back there?" Kyouka finished the thought.

"Mina-chan's not afraid of anything!" cheered Alraumon

"Huhu~! That's right! Besides, what are the odds I'll get sprayed by knockout gas after you guys already were, right?" Mina shrugged with a wide grin, before she sauntered off with Alraumon towards the bathhouse with a peppy tune in her voice.

Chapter Text

"Mister Red has failed." spoke the silhouette in the mirror. "The Chosen Ones are still at large."

"Do we have any idea where they might be heading?" spoke the figure in the room in a simple, almost-robotic tone of voice.

"Not exactly, but we have reason to believe their goal is Repeat Mountain."

The other figure titled her head slightly. "You don't sound very certain. I thought your spies were supposed to be the best at gathering intel, Mister Green."

The silhouette bristled at the comment. "Don't you give me any lip! Boss Gray put me in charge of getting those brats, so watch your mouth!"

"You are well aware I do not like to act without knowing every pertinent information I can."

"I am aware." Mister Green grunted, "But unfortunately for you, this is all the information we have, so it's what you'll have to work with."

"Very well." she begrudgingly accepted. "And what about my current assignment?"

"You will still see to it. I will have my spies redirect the Chosen Ones' paths towards your sector. Just play your cards right, and you'll be killing two birds with one stone."

"Consider it done. For the glory of the Chroma Army."

"Good. I know you won't disappoint, Miss Black." the reflection shimmered, the silhouette gone to leave behind only the reflective glass.

The woman turned on her heels, starting to make her way out of the room, until a low rumble coming from the other end of the room caught her attention. "Still struggling, are you?" she asked the much larger figure. "Your determination is commendable. Were it not for Mister Blue's failure in protecting his factory, I would be sure to take that valor away from you with a few Gear Bugs. Unfortunately, I only have a limited supply now, so I have to be smart in how I use them."

She received an angry muffled growl her way, which brought a quiet chuckle to her voice.

"As it stands, you will simply have to remain here. Your power may yet prove useful to us in the future." she pressed a button, turning on a large screen in the room, broadcasting a village from a distance. "So just sit tight, and enjoy the entertainment."

With Jellymon Village behind them, the Chosen Seven and their Digimon took to the trail once more, setting out for their destination of Header Town. Thankfully for them, the oppressive desert would soon give way to a charming stretch of woodland, providing plenty of shade from the warm midday Sun.

Despite the journey lasting a whole day to get where they were, meaning they had to camp under the stars, followed by walking the entire morning, the mood seemed quite high among them. Mina had a wide smile on her face, sometimes singing a song or two to pass the time (everyone agreed she had a very good singing voice, and it was the first time her classmates had ever seen her blush when they told her that). Alraumon was standing on Mina's feet, while the pink girl grabbed her partner's hands, like a mother helping her young daughter dance, but marching along down the trail instead.

"Ashido-san, don't fall behind too much!" Itsuka called out to her since, naturally, Mina was moving a bit slower than the rest while carrying the plant Digimon.

"Alraumon looks like she's having fun! Dracomon wants to walk on Itsuka's feet too! Can I! Can I!" Dracomon cheered excitedly as she tugged on Itsuka's pant leg.

"Sorry, Dracomon, but I think your arms are too short for that." at least, if they wanted to keep walking. "Maybe when we stop for a break, we can play for a bit, alright?"

"Yay!" the dragon jumped up, "Dracomon can't wait to play with Itsuka!"

Yui glanced at Itsuka as they walked side by side. "Big sister..."

"Eh?" Itsuka flinched a bit, her cheeks growing a bit red. "W-What are you talking about, Kodai-san!"

"Mh..." was all she said before she focused on the path ahead again, leaving Itsuka to stew by herself on how she still had trouble understanding such a quiet girl.

Candmon just happily bounced with a cheerful giggle. "I can't stand on Yui's feet! I don't even have feet! But that's OK, I like jumping better! Yui, you should jump too! It's much faster than walking! Watch! Watch me, Yui!" he then took off ahead of them, quickly reaching the front of the group, before bouncing all the way back to his partner. "See! See! Did you see how fast I was! Did you, did you!?"

"Mm." she said with a short nod, which was more than enough to make Candmon cheer with joy.

A bit further up ahead, Kyouka stretched her arms over her head as she walked, stifling back a yawn.

"Tired, eh?" Neemon said, "It is very irresponsible to stay up late, you know? Good boys and girls go to bed early, so they can remain strong and healthy!"

Kyouka just shot him a blank stare. "I did go to bed early. But someone woke me up in the middle of the night because he had to pee."

"Hey, we're wanted men and women! You wouldn't want your darling partner to wander off on his own in the middle of the night, and risk getting kidnapped with his pants figuratively and literally down, would you?"

"They'd be begging us to take you back in less than a week."

"I'm not sure whether to be offended or relieved, I must admit."

Camie let out a bubbly chuckle as Kyouka and Neemon bantered. "I think it's cute that, like, you still looked out for little Neemon! You put on a mean face, but, like, you really care about him, Kyouka-chan!"

Kyouka flinched a bit, her cheeks flushing at Camie's chumminess. "A-Anyway, aren't you tired? You've been carrying Labramon all morning."

"Nope~!" Camie answered. "Labra-kun is, like, way lighter than he looks, so I can hold him, and carry him, and snuggle with him for as long as I want!"

The dog Digimon shrunk a bit in his partner's arms, clearly a bit embarrassed by all the affection. "C-Camie, th-that's..."

"Tcheh!" Neemon scoffed. "Look at him, tryin' to play all innocent and coy... you should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Green's not a good color on you, Neemon." Kyouka commented. "Speaking of green..." she stepped forward, leaning in between Izuku and Saiko who were leading the pack, "What's going on here?"

Izuku was a bit surprised when Kyouka suddenly stuck her head in, but he simply answered: "Oh, well, Intelli-senpai wanted to take a look at my Digivice, so I just borrowed it to her."

"Now that it's obvious these Villains are also after these things, we should try and learn as much as we could about what makes these devices so special." Saiko explained, not taking her eyes off of the Digivice as she poked at its few buttons. "It was far too careless of us to leave them unguarded last time."

"We couldn't really have predicted that there was a trap waiting for us, or that they would think to separate us from the Digivices. We just have to make sure we don't make the same mistake twice." Izuku said, trying to offer up some positive thinking.

Kyouka hummed, growing a bit curious. "Why not use your own Digivice for that, then?"

"Because mine isn't activated like the rest of yours, obviously." Saiko said, "I checked with Ashido-kun earlier, and hers was working too. There's no doubt about it: this 'Digivolution' thing is what causes these devices to turn on."

A hum left Camie, as she had also suddenly stepped in between Kyouka and Saiko to listen in on the conversation. "Digivolution... Digivice... Digimon... you guys, like, don't think we're in some kind of game, do you?"

"..." Saiko slowly turned her head to look at Camie with a frown. "Come again? How could you have possibly reached such a conclusion?"

"Well, 'digi' stands for 'digital', doesn't it? So, like, what if all this is all just a computer simulation, or something? Like a VR game!"

"Camie, does that mean you think I'm a simulation?"

"Oh! Huh, I guess it would..." Camie hummed, bumming herself out a bit that her cute partner could very well not even be real. "Unless... maybe you're stuck in the simulation with us!"

Saiko opened her mouth to refute, but found herself hesitating. "That's... N-No, that preposterous! We feel the heat of the Sun, we've tasted real food, we've been harmed... virtual reality hasn't reached anywhere near that level of realism yet! Besides, 'digi' could mean a few more things than strictly digital. It could be related to the Latin word 'digitus', or 'digit' as a number, or even the drug 'digitalis'... s-somehow..." even Saiko didn't seem to be able to connect any of these things together with what they knew about the Digimon. She briefly considered Camie's explanation again, but tried seeing it from a different angle. "...maybe this is some kind of... new amusement park?"

"An amusement park...?" Izuku asked.

"Her brain's finally snapped." Kyouka said, getting Saiko to bristle slightly.

"W-What I mean is, the world around us is clearly real and not a simulation! But perhaps the Digimon are some kind of robots, or holograms! That would fit into Utsushimi-san's theory of them being 'digital' in some way!"

"Can they, like, make holograms that are fluffy and soft as Labra-kun, though?"

"Uh... well... not that I'm aware of..."

"Besides, what kind of amusement park just has a bunch of killer robots roaming around?" Kyouka added, nailing another deadly blow to Saiko's theory.

"I-It was just a theory, alright!? And Utsushimi-san technically brought it up first!" Saiko defensively argued, her face growing a bit red.

"I-I think it was a good theory, Intelli-san!" Bakomon tried his best to cheer on his partner.

"Do you even know what she was saying?" Neemon asked with a raised eyebrow, Bakomon shrinking slightly out of embarrassment.

"Uhm... well..."

"In any case!" Saiko cleared her throat, "We're obviously just in some highly remote set of islands, that's all! Perhaps even man-made, like I-Island, which would explain much of the strangeness we've encountered thus far."

Kyouka hummed. "That actually makes sense."

"Then, maybe all of the strange fruit trees, and even the Digimon themselves, are some kind of... scientific experiments?" Izuku asked, although the frown on his face made it clear he seemed a bit perturbed by that idea.

"Perhaps..." was the only answer Saiko could offer. If this was some closed off man-made archipelago for the purpose of a scientific experiment, it certainly explained not just the fruit and monsters, but also why they could speak Japanese without knowing what Japan even was, if the scientists just kept them all unaware of the outside world.

"But, like... didn't Gaogamon say the bad guys came from somewhere else?" Camie spoke up. "Wouldn't that mean there's other places where Digimon live?"

"It's not uncommon for researches to introduce unknown variables in social experiments, to see how the subjects respond." Saiko answered, sounding a bit more confident in herself, as if she had finally cracked this complex puzzle with open. "If we assume the Digimon are created in a lab..."

"We're standin' right here, y'know?"

"Then it wouldn't be out of the question that the scientists deliberately made it seem like foreign invaders have landed on these shores." Saiko continued, completely ignoring Neemon's comment.

"Well I think that's mean!" Camie said with a pout. "Like, who'd just deliberately let loose a bunch of mean Digimon to harm all these cute littler Digimon!"

"The path of scientific progress isn't always a shining one." Saiko calmly said, "It's disappointing, but it is the truth. Sometimes awful things are done in the name of uncovering more of life's secrets."

"And that's supposed to make it OK!?"

"H-Hey, I didn't say I agree with what's happening here!" Saiko quickly defended herself, "I'm just being realistic, and saying it's not only possible, but plausible that the Digimon are little more than pawns in some large-scale experiment!"

"Again, we're still here, y'know..."

"Sorry, Neemon. We're all just still trying to make some sense out of all of this." Izuku tried to offer some sympathy, even as he clearly looked disturbed by this possibility. It would be one thing if the Digimon were more like animals - while animal testing still makes him uncomfortable, he can at least understand why it's usually the only real choice - but these creatures are clearly every bit as intelligent as a human is. To keep them in captivity like this, and toy with their lives all for the sake of an experiment... that was just simply inhuman.

Izuku looked beside him at Spadamon, who had remained rather quiet throughout the whole conversation. He actually didn't seem to be paying much attention at all, lost in his own thoughts this whole time.

"Spadamon? What's wrong?"

"H-Huh?" the lion blinked, looking up at Izuku.

"Sorry, you just looked like you were thinking hard about something."

"...it's nothing." the lion said, looking straight ahead right away.

"Oh... well... alright, if you say so..."

Spadamon just kept walking in silence, his mind too focused on the events from two nights ago. He'd been captured and stuffed into a cage, while Izuku was left to be beaten by the Vegimon. Even now, Spadamon couldn't bring himself to look at the boy, as he still held several bruises and cuts from the assault. It reminded him of his own powerlessness. They had strung him up to a pole like an old piece of clothing, and what was Spadamon doing?

Nothing.

He let himself get captured. And even when he woke up, he was powerless to help. Despite all his talks about heroism, he was powerless. When Alraumon and Izuku worked together to bring back to Digivices, he still couldn't do anything! Why was that? Why could all the others Digivolve with no trouble, but he couldn't? He was the first one to do it, so why hadn't he been able to repeat that?

The answer should be obvious to him: Izuku wasn't his partner, and he knew that! But then why did he Digivolve the first time? What made it so different?

Was it his fault?

...no.

It had to be Izuku's fault! That was the only explanation! Spadamon Digivolved once, so surely he could do so again any time he wanted! But no, Izuku had to be doing something to prevent him! He still carried the Digivice, so maybe that had something to do with it? Maybe he wasn't using it right, or- or maybe, he was deliberately holding Spadamon back from transforming for some reason!

Spadamon glanced at the boy, his eyes narrowing with growing resentment. Whether Izuku meant to do it or not, it was clear to the young lion that this human was what was holding him back. But what could he even do to fix that...?

"Hey! Guys!"

The group stopped as they heard Mina call out from behind them.

"Something's coming!"

Sure enough, they could see a small dust cloud being kicked up by something as it approached them.

"Could it be an enemy Digimon?" asked Bakomon.

"Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em! I'll smack 'em! I'll whack 'em!" Candmon punched the air before he started hopping towards the oncoming enemy, but Yui quickly grabbed him to stop him.

"We should hide, everyone!" Itsuka said. "If we can prevent a fight, then-"

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" asked Camie.

Labramon raised his ears slightly. "It sounds like... music?"

"Wait... that's not a Digimon..." Kyouka noticed.

"No... it's way worse!" Mina gasped.

The jingle grew louder and louder as the white and pink ice cream truck approached, urging everyone to quickly get out of the dirt road as it barreled right past them. Suddenly it hit the breaks, coming to a full stop just ahead of the group. And, sure enough-

"Hey, hey! Well, ain't this a surprise!" the yellow mollusk, Geremon, peeked out from the still-broken driver seat window.

"Hello!" waved Numemon as he stuck out his head out of the same window by climbing over Geremon.

"IT'S THE POOP EATERS!" yelled out Mina.

Geremon's eye twitched at his. "HEY! Who you callin' Poop Eaters!?"

"Yeah! Who you callin' that!?" echoed Numemon.

"The guys who eat poop for a living, that's who!" Mina yelled back.

"Ah... well... I guess that makes sense." Geremon admitted. "B-But you could've said it a bit more friendly-like! Like, 'oh, how nice, it's the Poop Eaters!' or something like that! Make it sound like you're happy to see us!"

"Why would I do that! I'm not happy to see you!"

Geremon flinched, nearly falling out the window as he did. "W-Why you-! You've got a real nasty personality for someone so cute!"

"Yeah! Real nasty!" Numemon said.

"Yeah, well, you guys smell just as bad as you look! So-!" she stuck out her tongue at the mollusks.

"Ashido-san, will you please stop!" Itsuka begged.

Camie stepped forward, waving at the two Digimon. "Hiiiiiiii, Gere-san! Nume-san!

The two Digimon quickly seemed to calm down, blushing and smiling giddily as they noticed Camie. "Camie-chaaaan~! Hello~!" they both waved.

Mina huffed at this. "Of course that's all it takes to get on their good side... men." she rolled her eyes, but then looked over to Izuku. "No offense."

"None taken..." Izuku said, more focused on the matter at hand. "Still, it's quite a coincidence we've crossed paths again."

"Yeah,well, it's a small world, is all!" Geremon said.

"Yeah! It's not like we're followin' ya or anythin'!" said Numemon, which did get Geremon to flinch and nudge him with his elbow, whispering a "be quiet" to his partner.

"Well, it's certainly fortuitous!" Saiko cheerfully said. "You two seemed to have a better lay of the land than us, so maybe you could direct us towards the nearest settlement again?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"She's asking if you can take us to any nearby town again." Kyouka helpfully cleared up.

"Oh, is that all?" Numemon said as he finally understood.

"Why didn't you just say so! Of course, we can!" Geremon said, "We'd be happy to-"

"NO WAY!"

"Eh?" everyone turned to look at Mina, arms crossed and pouting.

"What do you mean, 'no way'?" asked Saiko, already a bit incensed.

"I mean, no way am I getting back inside that stench box again!" Mina said.

"If Mina-chan isn't going, then me neither!" Alraumon mimicked Mina by crossing her arms and pouting.

"You're the one who's always complaining about having to walk everywhere..." Kyouka pointed out.

"Yeah, and I would much rather walk than get inside that thing again! That's how serious I am!" Mina stomped her foot. "We'll find our own way around just fine, thank you very much!"

Itsuka sighed. "Ashido-san, you can't make decisions like that on your own."

"BAH! Is this the thanks we get for our good samaritanism!?" Geremon scoffed, "Well we wouldn't want you inside our ride either! Your personality is too foul!"

"Not as foul as your stench!"

"We may stink up the place, but you just make hanging around you unpleasant!"

"At least I don't make people puke just by breathing my rancid breath too hard!"

"Why you-!"

"G-Guys, please! Let's calm down!" Izuku tried to mediate, but Mina and Geremon only kept shouting back barbs between one another.

"...?" Camie blinked, feeling Yui tug on her sleeve. She leaned in as Yui whispered something into her ear. "...oh! That's not a bad idea! Nice thinking, Yui-chan!" straightening up, she raised her hand and voice to get everyone's attention. "Excuse me~! I may have a solution~!"

Everyone stopped their arguing, turning to look at Camie.

"Why don't we just give the ice cream truck a good scrubbing down? That way, we'd all feel comfortable riding it!"

"W-What!?" Geremon and Mumemon flinched. "C-Camie-chan... but... that would mean getting rid of the musk we spent so long acquiring..."

"Yeah, what would we be without our musk?" asked Numemon, but the two mollusks then noticed Yui walk over to them, motioning with her hand. They both leaned in as she whispered something in their ears.

"Water... whisper... soap... whisper whisper... Camie... whisper... shirt..."

"..."

"..."

Geremon and Numemon's entire bodies suddenly turned a vivid red, as they unanimously shouted: "OK! LET'S GIVE THIS TRUCK THE SCRUBBING OF A LIFETIME! YEAH!"

Saiko blinked, wondering just what Yui had said to turn the Digimon around like that, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, as it were. "Well, alright, I suppose it's fair, but... I have to raise the issue of: how do we even wash the truck in the first place?"

"Oh, that's easy. There's a river not too far from here; we have a pump and some hoses stored in the back." said Geremon.

"Yeah! And some of that cleaning product too!" said Numemon.

"...what?" Saiko blinked. "But... why?"

Geremon tapped the side of his head. "To defeat your enemy, you must become your enemy."

"I... see..." really, what other answer should she have expected.

Camie just beamed brightly, looking over at the pink girl and her Digimon. "How does that sound to you two, Mina-chan? Alrau-chan?"

Mina kept a scowl on her face for a few moments, before finally relenting. "Alright, I guess I could stomach a ride with them after a through wash... but I still won't like it!"

"That's fine by me; I won't like driving you around either, Pink!" shouted back Geremon.

"Garbage breath!"

"Rotten personality!"

And so, with a plan in motion (and despite Geremon and Mina exchanging more insults) the group all started moving. It only took a few minutes of walking to get to the river, and set up the pumps for the hoses. As Geremon and Numemon had said, their truck really was stocked with a few cleaning products and utensils, such as sponges, buckets and mops.

"Needless to say, I rally didn't plan on spending my day washing someone else's ice cream truck..." Kyouka said as she moved the broom to wash the outside of the truck.

"Mh..." Yui, supposedly, agreed.

"I don't think any of us did..." itsuka said as she walked by with two buckets of water. "But it'll be beneficial for all of us in the long run, if it means we can have Geremon and Numemon drive us places."

"Itsuka likes being driven?" asked Dracomon as she accompanied her partner.

"Eh? Well, I mean, it beats walking long distances, that's for sure..."

"Then Dracomon learn how to drive! She can drive Itsuka everywhere!" the dragon cheered, Itsuka just chuckling a bit embarrassingly.

"Ooh! I can learn with you!" Candmon excitedly said. "That way I can drive Yui too! I can be the strongest on feet and on wheels! Nobody will mess with us! I can give them a POW, or a SHWING, and beat them with a metal chain!"

"Sounding a bit like an old school delinquent from the movies there, Candmon." Kyouka chuckled.

"Huh? Is that a good thing? I've never seen these movies!"

"Well... depends on who you ask, I guess?" she shrugged. "Some people like that stuff."

"...cool..." Yui muttered, getting Kyouka to chuckle again.

"See?" she focused back to the truck, but still spoke to Itsuka. "Hey, maybe after this, those guys could just drive us all the way to Header Town." Kyouka thought out loud. "That would be pretty useful."

"Yeah, but even in a squeaky clean truck, do you really want to spend the next few days next to those two?" Neemon asked as he rubbed a wet cloth over the truck's side until he could see his own reflection. Kyouka didn't verbally answer, but she did twist her nose which was more than enough to make her feelings known.

"Less talk! We want to finish this before sundown!" ordered Saiko as she peeked her head out of the back of the truck. "Kendou-kun, buckets!"

"R-Right!" Itsuka and Dracomon quickly walked over, handing over the bucket for Saiko, joining her, Bakomon and Numemon in scrubbing the inside clean of its stench. Although as she looked at Numemon, she couldn't help but feel just a little bit guilty; this was their truck, after all, and they were kinda forcing their own standards of comfortable living on them, and the mollusk seemed quite saddened as he smelled the lemon-scented product that was covering up the normal stench. "Numemon-san, we're really thankful you guys agreed to this."

"Hm?" Numemon blinked. "Oh, that's-... that's OK..."

"N-No, really. Even if we don't share your feelings, I know it's hard to just give up on something that seemed very special to you."

Saiko glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow. "It's just stench. They can easily get this whole thing dirty again in no-"

"That's not the point!" Itsuka said, maybe a bit more firmly than she intended. "We're still asking them to change something of theirs just for our benefit. Even if it seems ridiculous to us, if it's important to them, that means they're the ones doing the biggest sacrifice here!"

Saiko could only stare in amazement that Itsuka was seemingly taking this so deadly seriously.

Numemon as well, but he was quick to give her a small but earnest smile. "Thanks for that, lady. But really, don't beat yourself up over it! I mean... to be completely honest..." he grew a bit shy as he looked down at the bottle of cleaning product, taking a short sniff. "I think I actually kinda like this new smell!"

"Eh?" Itsuka blinked. "Really You do?"

"Heh! I think I do! Turns out clean stuff doesn't smell so bad after all!" Numemon grinned, "So I gotta thank ya, really! For introducing me to something new!"

Seeing the smile on Numemon's face did help get Itsuka more at ease, as she quickly smiled back. "In that case, let's make this truck as clean as it can be!"

"Here, here!" Numemon cheered as they all went back to cleaning inside the shelves and cabinets.

Saiko, meanwhile, still had no idea why they were taking this so seriously. Weirdos...

Bakomon stared at Itsuka a bit, clearly impressed as he and Dracomon cleans the counter. "Itsuka really cares about the feelings of others, doesn't she?"

"Yep!" Dracomon said, "That's why Itsuka is the best! It's why Dracomon won't ever let her down!"

Back outside, Camie had just about put the finishing touches applying soap on the front of the truck. Camie took a step back, looking up. "Izu-kun, Spada-kun, are you sure you guys are OK up there?"

Izuku flinched at Camie's blunt familiarity piercing right through his defenses. "W-We're fine here, Utsushimi-senpai! Really!" both Izuku and Spadamon were currently washing up the roof of the car, along with the large ice cream(?) statue that sat atop the vehicle. He looked past the statue, as he was handling one side of the truck while Spadamon handled the other, to look at his partner. "Spadamon, do you want to rest?"

"No." he bluntly answered. "Focus on the task, not on me." Izuku frowned at that answer, but decided it best to give the lion his space.

"Well, you guys, like, be careful up there!" Camie said. "It's a nasty fall if you slip!" she then looked over to the broken window, and at Labramon as he worked on the front seats. "How about you, Labra-kun? Want some help?"

"I think I can manage it, Camie, thank you." the dog assured her. "This area is surprisingly clean, compared to the rest." as he put the finishing touches on dabbing the dashboard, he moved to open up the glove compartment. "Eek-!" and immediately jumped back, grasping his sensitive snout. "P-P-P-P-Poooooo...!!"

Just as he did so, Geremon was walking past the passenger seat's open door, and blinked. He peeked inside, seeing the poop inside the glove compartment. "Oh, that's where that was! Hey, thanks for finding that; it's been drivin' me crazy tryin' to find it!" he then just casually grabbed the poop. "But I guess we won't really need this anymore, do we? Ah well... hup!" he then just threw the piece of poop away from the truck.

Labramon let out a very relieved sigh. "Th-Thank you for that..."

"Nice throw, Geremon-san!" Camie clapped.

"Heheeeeh~! Thank you, Camie-chan!" Geremon blushed. "C'mon, the hoses are hooked up! Let's give this baby a rinse!" he said while waving the hose in his hand. He moved over to the front of the truck, Camie walking over to him as well, but then- "Oh? Camie-chan, I think you missed a spot?"

"Eh? I did?" she blinked.

"Yeah, right over there! See? Just give it an extra scrub before we can rinse."

"OK~! Just a sec!" Camie said as she moved over to the spot on the front window to give it a better scrub.

Meanwhile, Geremon grinned sneakily with a quiet chuckle, steadily aiming the hose. "Oopsie, my hand sli-Hrk!?" Geremon found himself being interrupted as Mina shoved a hose right into his mouth.

And then promptly turned it on, Geremon's body filling up and inflating with water, before he suddenly shot out backwards from the water stream like an American cartoon character.

He spat out the last remaining water before storming over to get right in Mina's face. "HEY, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, PINK!?"

Mina didn't flinch, and neither did Alraumon, the two keeping a blank stare on their faces. "If we're getting rid of all the stench, that means we also need to wash the source of it." Mina just shrugged. "You and your friend there could really use a bath."

"Or mouthwash." Alraumon added.

"Th-That wasn't part of the deal!" Geremon argued, "We were just supposed to wash the truck!"

"What's the point of washing the truck when the people inside of it still smell like farts!" Mina said.

"At least I can get rid of that smell if I want to! You'd need an exorcist to get rid of whatever's rotting in your personality!" Geremon shot back.

"Barf breath!"

"Irritating menace!"

Camie sighed as the two continued trading insults back and forth. She just took the hose herself, and proceeded to rinse out the front of the truck in the meantime.

After a lot of work, their efforts had actually payed off. The truck was good as new, allowing for a comfortable ride along under the new fresh smell of lemon and lime, making for a much more comfortable journey than last time.

"Header Town?"

"Yes, that's where we're heading to." Itsuka explained to Geremon.

"That's on the other side of the island, isn't it?" Numemon asked, Camie nodding as she sat on the passenger seat.

"Have you been there before?" asked Bakomon.

"Nope, never been." Geremon admitted. "We've just kinda been making the rounds on this side."

"Well, that is unfortunate..." Saiko sighed in clear frustration.

"We couldn't drive you there anyway." Geremon said, "I mean, you're nice people and all, but we've got places to be! Things to do! We can't act as taxi drivers all willy-nilly, y'know?"

"We understand. We're very grateful you're willing to drive us as much as you already have." Itsuka assured them.

"Where are we heading anyway?" asked Izuku.

"Gabumon Village!" Geremon said. "It's the closest place; pretty big village, lots of farms... nice people; they'll look after ya, no problem!"

"We're almost there!" Numemon said.

"Let's hope this one isn't leading us straight into another trap..." Kyouka mumbled quietly.

"I hope not..." Izuku echoed, but not for slightly different reasons than Kyouka. Seeing how the Jellymon were being treated by the invading Vegimon, he'd hate to think of another place going through similar issues...

After a few more minutes of driving, they had finally arrived at the fork in the road where they had to separate. Geremon and Numemon headed off down one path, while the Chosen headed down the other towards Gabumon Village. Which did mean more walking, but everyone felt pretty rested up, and the sky was fairly cloudy to block out the Sun, so it wasn't that big of a deal for any of them.

Soon enough they would begin seeing the image that Geremon had described to them: several farm fields surrounding a village, larger than Jellymon Village, but still relatively small compared to a modern town. With high spirits, the Chosen quickly followed the path towards the village. But the closer they got, some confusion started settling in.

"Am... am I seeing things...?"

"If you are, then I am too..." Kyouka answered Itsuka.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Saiko sighed.

"Is that..."

"Are those really..." Mina echoed Camie.

"Meat." Yui said.

"It sure is..." Izuku could only do as the others, and stare slack-jawed at the sight before them. Because on the fields, literally growing out of the ground... was meat. Actual meat, somehow looking like it came straight out of a cartoon, complete with a big bone sticking through it, yet 100% real.

"What? Haven't you guys ever seen a meat farm before?" asked Neemon.

"We most certainly have not!" Kyouka yelled back.

"Itsuka's never had meat before?"

Blinking, Itsuka looked down at Dracomon. "Well... yes, we do have meat where we come from! It's just... w-well, it doesn't... grow out of the ground like this!"

"It doesn't?" Candmon blinked. "Then where does it come from."

"Eh? Uh... w-well.. it's-"

"Dead animals." Yui bluntly answered. "Like the fish."

"So you have to hunt for your meat?" Labramon asked.

"That sounds way more complicated than just growing it!" Alraumon said with a bubbly giggle.

"This place you come from sounds rather strange sometimes, Intelli-san..." Bakomon said.

"THAT'S what's strange to you!?" Saiko yelled, getting the box Digimon to flinch.

Kyouka hummed. "I guess it would seem kinda strange for them, if this is how they've known meat all their life."

"Man, I'm jealous! I'd love to be able to grow my own meat!" Mina said, "Think of all the grocery money you could save!"

"A little mini-meat garden does sound like a lot of fun~!" Camie giggled.

Izuku had already whipped out his notebook, furiously scribbling away at this incredible new discovery. "A-Amazing, if this kind of food were shared with the rest of the world, just think of how much this could revolutionize the food industry, it could help lower so much of the costs of ranching, not to mention the pollution, I wonder how they even grow, are they watered, do they need sunlight, how do they even-"

Groooowwwll...

Izuku went quiet, and everyone slowly turned to look down at the white lion, who was violently trying to keep his composure, and hide the fact that that was his stomach right now.

"...c-come to think of it, we haven't had any food since breakfast!" Itsuka tried to pull the attention away from the clearly embarrassed Spadamon.

"That's true! And, like, it's way past noon!" Camie pointed out.

"Hopefully Gabumon Village is as inviting as Geremon said, and they can spare some food for us." Izuku said with some hope in his voice.

"They sure seem to have plenty around here!" Neemon motioned at the field of meat surrounding them. "Tonight, we feast like kings!"

"We shouldn't impose on them any more than we have to, Neemon." Itsuka lightly chided. "If they can offer us some food, we'll take what they give us. If not, then we'll just have to forage something." she heard Neemon grumbling but ignored it, knowing they weren't exactly on the best case scenario. She looked beside herself, and Dracomon was quite obviously drooling at the sight of all of that ground meat, but the little dragon quickly tried to hide it and put on a strong face once she realized Itsuka was watching her. It certainly hurt Itsuka a bit that she couldn't really give her partner, and the other Digimon, a more filling meal than whatever mushrooms and fruit they could gather on their own. She just had to keep reminding herself that, at least she was trying...

As they drew closer to the village, it seemed like they weren't about to get a welcome party like with the Jellymon. In a sense, that could be seen as a positive, since it might mean nobody was expecting their arrival like last time. Still, they knew not to drop their guard down, because something could still spring up on them at any.

Especially when the village itself was very quiet. Not a soul in sight, with every wooden hut being fully closed.

"Does anyone even live here anymore?" Kyouka wondered out loud.

"Remain vigilant!" Saiko reminded everyone, "For all we know, the enemy could be hiding in wait for us."

"Labra-kun, what's wrong?"

The dog Digimon frowned as he began sniffing the air. "I can smell something... there's definitely Digimon nearby..."

"Good ones, I hope..." Mina said with a bit of nervousness starting to creep into her voice.

"Don't worry, Mina-chan, I'll protect you!" Alraumon assured her. "I'm ready to Digivolve the second there is-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"

Alraumon squeaked with a jump, the rest of the group being startled by the sudden yelling that headed their way. Their minds quickly flicked through surprise, fear, and confusion as they realized they weren't suddenly being pounced on by a large number of Digimon, or even that particularly fearsome-looking of a monster.

The monster was about the same size as the Chosen's Digimon partners - about one-and-a-half Mineta Minorus in height - and its body colored a rather flashy pink, with a bright green circle on its stomach with a skull-like pattern over it. More noticeable was the violet-colored wolf's pelt the monster wore, and the single horn that sprouted out of its forehead. On the left "ear" of the pelt, the monster had a thin red ribbon tied to it, and it carried a small wooden club, swinging it wildly towards the outsiders.

"You bastards are gonna PAY!!"

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Psychemon

Level III

Type: Reptile

Attribute: Harmonious

A Digimon characterized by its flashy and vibrant coloration. It performs its Dance of Primary Colors both for celebration as well as defense, bewildering those who witness it thanks to its garish colors. It is very shy about its true appearance so it wears a bright fur pelt, and should anyone try to remove it, it will zap them with its Colorful Spark attack from its horn!

---

"Stay behind me!" Spadamon shouted to the rest as he stood between them and the charging Psychemon, drawing his trusty blade.

"Wait! Spadamon, don't-!"

THWACK!

"O-Ow!" Izuku flinched, having placed himself in front of Spadamon to keep him from attacking the other Digimon, only to get a wooden club right to his back.

"W-What are you doing!?" Spadamon growled, trying to get past Izuku to fight the Psychemon, only for the boy to keep trying to get in his way. "Let me- let me fight!"

"I'll bring you down myself if I have to! I'll make you pay!" Psychemon kept shouting.

"W-Wait, please- Ow! Just- Ow! I-I think there's- Oww!" Izuku tried his best to keep the two Digimon apart, all while Psychemon kept swinging the club against him.

"PSYCHEMON!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"S-STOP HER!"

All of a sudden, three other Digimon came rushing out from one of the wooden huts, looking very similar to Psychemon in appearance, but with a yellow coloration on their bodies, and a light blue fur pelt covering them, as well as the blue and purple mark on their stomach being a different pattern. They rushed at Psychemon, three of them quickly grabbing her by her arms to drag her off of Izuku, while the fourth immediately fell to his knees.

"P-Please, please forgive us for this!"

Izuku let out a short sigh. "I-It's OK, it didn't really hurt that-"

"Please don't kill us for her mistake!"

"W-WHAT!?" Izuku flinched. "Kill y-"

"Don't torture us either!" another of the creatures begged.

"P-Please, don't take anything else from us!"

"We'll obey! We promise!"

Psychemon let out a growl, still trying to struggle against her captors. "C-Can you even listen to yourselves!? Aren't you ashamed!? Don't beg them, fight them!"

Izuku was very lost right. "W-Wait, there's been a mis-"

"Be quiet, Psychemon!" the creatures continued to ignore him. "Don't make this any harder on us than it already is!"

"Why do you want the same thing to happen here that happened to your village!?" another of the monsters shouted at her.

"ENOUGH!"

A new voice made itself heard which quickly stopped the in-fighting. The Digimon was, once again, very similar in appearance to the others, but white in color and a pitch-black fur pelt covering him, the mark on his belly being yellow. He was slightly bigger than the rest of the monsters, his voice showing a bit of age to it, and he walked with a large cane.

The Digimon looked up at Izuku, then over to Psychemon and the others. "Are all of you so consumed by fear that you can't tell friend from foe anymore? Is this what's become of Gabumon Village? Jumping at every little shadow?"

"B-But, Elder..."

"We just thought..."

"B-BlackGabumon-san..." even Psychemon seemed to shrink in shame.

BlackGabumon sighed, turning to face the humans again. "Now, I must apologize for the welcome you all received. I'm afraid we've all been quite on edge recently."

"Th-That's fine." Izuku quickly assured him, even as Spadamon still leered Psychemon suspiciously.

The other humans and Digimon soon approached, with Itsuka quickly speaking up. "We're a bunch of strangers who just wandered into your village; it's understandable why you might find that suspicious."

"Especially with everything that seems to be happening around here..." Kyouka added.

"These are worrisome times, yes, but that's no excuse for a lack of hospitality." BlackGabumon said. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am BlackGabumon, the chieftain of Gabumon Village. Welcome."

Mina hummed. "I think I got this... So, if we're in Gabumon Village..." she pointed at the blue monsters, "That would make those the Gabumon?"

"That's right, Mina-chan!" Alraumon confirmed.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

BlackGabumon

Level III

Type: Reptile

Attribute: Wrathful

A Virus-attribute Gabumon that dons a fur pelt which blends into the darkness. Though it is stronger and more assertive than its Vaccine counterpart, it too is very shy when its pelt is removed and its true face is revealed. Its favorite technique, Little Horn, grows out the horn on its head to use as a fearsome weapon.

Gabumon

Level III

Type: Reptile

Attribute: Moral

A Vaccine-attribute Gabumon that wears an icy-blue coat made out of the shed fur of another Digimon. It is a shy and docile Digimon that prefers the defense its pelt offers over offense, and becomes very sheepish when it loses it. Its special move, Petit Fire, launches a stream of blue flames from its mouth to ward off enemies.

---

"We're sorry for intruding, BlackGabumon-san, but we're traveling to Header Town and we just needed some place to rest for the day." Izuku explained.

"Header Town?" BlackGabumon said, sounding a bit surprised. "That's quite a journey you've all embarked on. You must have been traveling for days by now."

"It's been four days since we started, I think..." Izuku nodded.

"We started our journey from On Island." Labramon added.

"And, like, it hasn't even been a fun trip or anything!" Camie said, "Thanks to all these jerks running around trying to capture us."

"Hmm..." BlackGabumon hummed, "So, you too have come across the Chroma Army..."

"Chroma Army? Is that what they call themselves?" Saiko asked. "W-Wait, we've been going against an army!?"

"Sure, why wouldn't we, considering our luck..." Neemon shrugged.

"Is an army a bad thing?" Dracomon wondered aloud.

"An army is when you have lots of big strong guys fighting together!" Candmon answered.

"Oh? We're big strong guys too, aren't we?"

"Well, yeah, but we're not enough! An army is super big! Major big! Hundreds of big!"

Dracomon started to visibly grow more scared as Candmon explained. "Th-...That many people are after Itsuka...?"

Yui placed her hand on top of Candmon, pushing him down a bit as he was clearly getting a bit too excited and scaring the dragon Digimon. "Quiet down."

"I-It's OK, Dracomon, we don't actually know if it's that many!" Itsuka quickly tried to calm down her partner. "An army technically doesn't need to be that big, right?" she looked over at Saiko with a bit of a pleading look in her eyes.

"Eh? Oh, uhh... well, no, I suppose not. By definition, all it stands for is an organized military force, regardless of affiliation or even size. The numbers could be anywhere from fifty to five hundred thousand."

"I don't care how many of them there are!" Psychemon suddenly interjected. "We can't keep letting them destroy our homes, and turn us into their slaves! We have to fight! So either you're here to help us fight them off, or you might as well just be wasting our time!"

"Psychemon." BlackGabumon said to get her to calm down. "These folk are just as much victims as we have been. There is no need to speak to them like that."

"BlackGabumon-san..." Izuku stepped up, "What's been happening around here? It sounds like you've been going through some rough times as well..."

The Digimon nodded. "I'm afraid so. If you wish to know of our troubles, I will tell you, but first, you need your rest, and the village needs to eat. We are more than happy to share our food with you, if you so wish."

"Only if it's not too much trouble." Itsuka said.

"Not at all." BlackGabumon answered. "Though we may not be able to offer a feast, we have enough for everybody."

The village that once looked deserted now looked much more lively, as not only had all the Gabumon left their hiding places inside their homes, but also the younger Tsunomon. Under BlackGabumon's orders, they had brought out some of their reserve rations to feed everyone in the village, along with the weary travelers. As soon as the Gabumon picked up the food they needed, they would immediately rush back to their huts, and shut themselves inside, clearly still afraid.

BlackGabumon had welcomed the Chosen and their Digimon into his hut, a very humble place with little in the way of needless decoration. They were followed by Psychemon, who seemed to live there as well.

"Mmm...~! So tasty!" Camie cooed as she had her first bite bite out of the ground-grown meat.

"D-Didn't even hesitate..." Kyouka commented on Camie's quick eating, as she still found herself poking at her food wondering if it was safe to eat for humans.

"Tasty..." muttered Yui as she too dug right into her meal.

"Yeah! Yeah! Super tasty!" cheered Candmon, "But I could be spicier, don't you think? Huh? Huh?"

"Dracomon could eat meat every day!" the little dragon cheerfully commented as she wolfed down her hunk of meat. "Can Dracomon have more after this? Can she? Can she?"

"Dracomon, what did we talk about earlier?" Itsuka reminded her, "You have plenty of food on your plate already, don't get greedy."

BlackGabumon quietly chuckled at this. "It's quite alright. Young ones such as your Dracomon need to eat plenty, so they can grow healthy and strong."

"I-I suppose so... but we really don't want to impose." Itsuka repeated.

"It's pretty obvious something is affecting your village." Saiko spoke up a bit more bluntly. "You have fields full of crops - for lack of a better term - and on our way to here, I could see stacks of what I assume is meat towards the border of the village. You don't seem to be struggling to gather food, and yet you had to rely on rationing it out for the entire village."

"Intelli-san, should you really be so blunt...?" Bakomon nervously asked.

"What? It's the truth, isn't it!" Saiko huffed. "If we're in any danger just sitting around here and eating, I'd like to know about it instead of beating around the bush."

BlackGabumon nodded with a sigh. "Your friend is correct, little Bakomon. Her curiosity is well placed."

"Then, what happened here, BlackGabumon-san?" Izuku asked, growing too curious not to.

The village elder hummed as he closed his eyes. "Gabumon Village was not always gripped by fear. We were blessed with plenty of fertile land, food and water. Though the woods around us were treacherous, and filled with many dangerous Digimon, we always relied on the protection of our very own guardian."

"Guardian?" Alraumon tilted her head.

"You mean, like a local Hero?" Mina asked.

"You could see it that way." BlackGabumon nodded. "His name is Kabuterimon, and for many decades, he has kept the village safe. The Kuwagamon of the forest acknowledge his authority as Chief of Insects, and follow his command. Thus, we have enjoyed a great deal of peace for many, many years..."

It wasn't hard to tell through BlackGabumon's tired voice where his story was going. "But then, the Chroma Army..." Izuku said, though he couldn't quite finish that sentence.

BlackGabumon let out a sigh and nodded his head. "For two months now, we have been living underneath its shadow...

======

The Gabumon in the village cowered, staring in horror as the massive figures cast their shadows above them, the terrible buzzing of their powerful wings growing louder and more numerous, as more and more of them flew above their homes.

Blood-red, with two vicious pincers leaving the sides of their mouths, the monsters emited a guttural rattle from their throats as they landed, easily intimidating the much smaller Gabumon, the giant insects looming over their homes.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Kuwagamon

Level IV

Type: Insect

Attribute: Wrathful

A tenacious Insect Digimon whose body is well armored by a sturdy shell. It possesses great combat and hunting instincts, pouncing on its foes without hesitation or mercy. Its special move utilizes the bladed pincers on its head to slice through anything, Power Guillotine!

---

BlackGabumon stood before the vicious insects, standing his ground. He wasn't looking at them, as he could tell this was unlike a typical Kuwagamon attack. In the past, their village would be attacked by these creatures quite often, so he knew quite well what a typical Kuwagamon attack looked like.

Kuwagamon did not patiently stand around, and wait.

"I take it you are the one in charge here?"

The village elder's eyes narrowed as he focused on the figure riding atop one of the Kuwagamon's head. "That is correct." he answered, doing everything in his power to hide his own nervousness. "And to whom do we owe this disturbance?"

The figure jumped off the Kuwagamon, landing on the floor in front of BlackGabumon. She stood twice as tall as the fearful Gabumon, a thin and wiry frame covered in a black carapace, four arms ending in gloved hand with sharp claws, two coiled antennae sticking out from her ant-like head, and a sharp spike jutting out from the tip of the abdomen behind her. She bore into BlackGabumon with fearsome yellow eyes, even as her tone remained decisively neutral.

"I am Miss Black. General of the great Chroma Army."

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Exermon

Level IV

Type: Insect

Attribute: Harmonious

An Insect Digimon that typically makes it home in mountainous regions. Its sense of balance is extraordinary, and it is said it can remain stable no matter what position it takes. It absorbs sunlight through its antennae, converting it into electrical energy which is then discharges through its four hands. It is also able to utilize its powerful psychic powers to disorientate or control its opponents with Insec Mind!

---

BlackGabumon's eyes only narrowed further. "Then, what do we owe this visit for?"

"Your village hosts the largest meat field on the island. That much food for a relatively small village... doesn't that leave much of it to waste?"

"We share our food with many of our neighbours." Black Gabumon quickly answered, "We take great care to make sure nothing is wasted."

"How kind of you. In that case, I hope you will extend such courteousness towards us." her voice gained a mockingly sweet tone, even as her eyes displayed nothing but pure malice. "After all, we of the Chroma Army are now your new neighbours."

"Is that so..." BlackGabumon said, still holding back his own tenseness. He glanced aside as one of the Kuwagamon moved, placing its hand atop one of the wooden huts. It then pressed down, the wood creaking and cracking beneath the pressure, until the monster broke down the roof of the small hut, its owners unable to do anything but stare in terror.

"Now... would you be so kind? Instead of standing around gawking, why don't you farmers do what you were born to do, and gather your harvest." Exermon reached next to her, gently petting one of the Kuwagamon's pincers, "The Kuwagamon grow impatient when they get hungry, after all."

======

"As our meat crops grow quickly, the Chroma Army come by our village every few weeks. The Gabumon gather up almost all of our harvest to give to the Kuwagamon, and each time they demand even more than before." BlackGabumon sighed. "We try and hide as much of it was we can to sustain ourselves, but it gets more and more difficult as Miss Black's demands growing higher."

"That's why we have to fight!" Psychemon spoke up from her corner of the hut, where she had secluded herself away from the visitors. "They'll just keep trampling all over you until you stop being useful! And then they'll raze this whole village to the ground!"

"I am aware of the gravity of our situation, but you know that it is not that sim-"

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE SHOULDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Psychemon shouted, throwing her plate down to the floor infrustration. "Instead of wasting our time and food on these- these strangers, we should be rallying every Gabumon in the village! We should be preparing them to fight for their home, instead of wasting time on pointless stories!" her hands clenched, arms shaking in anger as she restrained her own emotions. "I won't-... I won't stand by... and watch them do the same thing to this place...-!" she suddenly turned and stormed out the door, to the outside.

BlackGabumon just sighed tiredly. "Please, forgive Psychemon. She arrived at our village shortly after Miss Black's visit. The Chroma Army had attacked Psychemon's village, and taken it over as its base of operation. She was one of the few they managed to get out in time, along with some of the younglings."

The air in the room only grew darker.

"Oh..." Itsuka's shoulders sagged.

"The poor thing..." Camie muttered. "You think maybe a hug could help?"

"I think you're gonna need more than a hug for that..." Saiko said.

Izuku remained quiet, his hands slowly balling up into fists over his legs as he looked at the door Psychemon had stormed out of.

"Her anger is justified, but I worry her drive for vengeance will only lead her into putting her own life in danger." BlackGabumon concluded.

"If you don't mind me asking..." Kyouka straightened up slightly, "But why not just do what she says? There's a lot of Gabumon here, so why not stand up for your village?"

"If I believed such a thing were possible, then that would have been my choice from day one." BlackGabumon said. "But what you must understand is... the Gabumon, they are farmers. Fear is all they know. Fear of the weather that will bless or ruin their harvest. Fear of the merchants that will treat them fairly, or swindle them out of their pay. Fear of the monsters that may ignore or infest their crops. To fight is simply too outlandish of a concept for them to grasp."

"Oh!" Mina perked up with an idea. "Then, what about that guy you mentioned earlier! Kabuterimon! Didn't you say he always kept your village safe? Why not ask him for help?"

"Kuwagamon..." Yui cryptically spoke up, Mina tilting her head in confusion.

"If the Kuwagamon used to follow Kabuterimon..." Izuku explained, "Then Miss Black being in control of them could mean something's happened to him."

"I'm afraid so..." BlackGabumon confirmed. "Unfortunately, we have no way of telling what has happened to our allies. Whether they are alive, or dead, is something we can only speculate."

Mina slumped, feeling a bit awkward now as the downer mood settled back into the room.

"Well, like... it's pretty obvious what to do now, right?"

Everyone looked up, focusing on Camie's smiling face.

"We gotta help 'em out, naturally~!"

Chapter Text

Deep in the forest, the earth shook as trees were uprooted from the soil. The fearsome Kuwagamon stomped around the ruins of what was once a small village, overturning its huts as they picked clean what little food they could still scavenge, tucked away under beds or hidden behind furniture.

Right in the center of the village was a large half-constructed factory, various Hagurumon running back and forth as they dutifully continued its construction. One Hagurumon floated in from the outskirts of the village, relaying a message to another of its kind. That Hagurumon then quickly made his way into the factory, traveling down its cramped hallways, until reaching a large dark room where his boss awaited news.

"Report." Exermon ordered, not even looking away from the monitors she was eyeing.

"Mister Green's spies have just gotten in contact with us. The Chosen Ones have been lead towards Gabumon Village, as commanded."

"How long ago was this?"

"About six hours."

Exermon grunted, her eyes narrowing. "It took them this long to report their success? Pitiful... but what else should I expect from Mister Green's agents..." she sighed.

"There is more. The Kuwagamon appear to be growing restless..." said the Hagurumon. "They are making the workers nervous. Some are even beginning to doubt your ability to keep them under control."

Exermon's eye twitched, her calm exterior almost cracking due to her anger, before she caught herself. "...tell them there is nothing to fear. The Kuwagamon are entirely in my control." she assured him, before venomously adding: "And I will gladly demonstrate how well they follow my orders on any further dissenting voices."

"I will ensure they get the message." Hagurumon said with a faint chuckle.

"Good. And tell them all to get ready. At dawn, we strike."

Hagurumon dutifully bowed, before turning and exiting the room.

While Hagurumon had left, Exermon was not alone in the room, a low rumbling being heard from her captive. Her eyes narrowed, anger crossing her face as she turned to him, recognizing what he was doing even if it were muffled. "And just what makes you think you have anything to laugh about?" she asked the larger figure. "Tch! Very well; chuckle all you want. We'll see how well that hardihood of yours holds up once I bring with me those Digivices you hold such reverence for as my trophies."

She turned back to the monitors, pressing a button to reveal Gabumon village on the camera feed, seen from a fair distance.

"Tomorrow, at dawn... the Chosen Ones will not be a problem to us anymore."

Dawn broke beyond the misty valley. The sky was still grey from the fog, as the first rays of sunlight tried to force themselves past the mist.

Beneath this fog, a menacing noise made itself heard. The buzzing of powerful wings pierced the silence of the valley, as the Kuwagamon flew above the treetops in a tight formation, followed by several more dozen Hagurumon floating closer to the ground. Atop the lead Kuwagamon stood the wiry figure of Exermon, balancing expertly atop the monster's head, her arms crossed as she savored the victory she knew was sure to come.

From the mist, she saw the contours of Gabumon Village amongst the grey clouds. They had arrived.

As they approached, however, Exermon's eyes narrowed slightly. She noticed the village looked a bit different, a handful of new walls having been erected out of logs and stone around the perimeter of the village. They definitely weren't there the last time she checked, so had the Gabumon built them overnight? Exermon held back a chuckle at the pitiful display; was this supposed to be a deterrent to keep her away? How pathetic.

The ground shook slightly as the Kuwagamon landed within the village's walls, Exermon's personal ride being the last to land right in the village's center, the Hagurumon foot soldiers remaining close by. While the village had looked deserted during her approach, Exermon soon saw it wasn't as empty as it first appeared.

Because right there, in the center of the village, was a small wooden table and stool, where a young woman dressed in white sat, calmly sipping her tea from a humble cup. Standing beside her was her faithful cardboard-covered Digimon, who flinched a bit when faced with such a mighty-looking monster as Kuwagamon, betraying his partner's composed nature.

"So, the Chosen Ones..." Exermon spoke calmly, "I must admit, I sense a modicum of enthusiasm in getting to meet the actual stuff of legends. After hearing so much about the stories that have lead you here, and how you've defeated my comrades in arms... it gives me great pleasure to know I will be the one to put an end to all of you. But what of your own compeers? Did they leave you here to fend us off singlehandedly?"

Saiko didn't flinch or budge from her seat, still calmly sipping her tea. "Quite the boastful mouth you've got there. Miss Black, was it? Perhaps you should first test your mettle against someone other than some helpless farmers, before you begin to run your mouth."

Exermon quietly chuckled at this. "And I suppose you are such an opponent, when your own partner is trembling in his cardboard boots?" Exermon said, aiming a leer towards Bakomon who flinched at the focus being put on him. This only made Exermon feel more justified in ignoring him, as she glanced around the village. "I assume these were your doing... the Gabumon here would certainly never even dream of trying to fight back." she looked back at Saiko, her robotic voice gaining just a hint of mocking poison to it. "Those are a lot of new walls you went through the trouble of building... but they didn't do a very good job at keeping us out."

Saiko simply placed her tea down on the table, before facing Exermon with a calm but smug smile. "They're supposed to keep you in."

======

"Help them out...?" Kyouka blinked.

"Poor girl, must've eaten a bad batch of meat." Neemon said.

BlackGabumon meanwhile looked pleasantly surprised. "You would really go through the trouble of aiding us?"

"Of course!" Camie beamed, "It's, like, what Heroes do and such!"

Itsuka looked over at Camie with a slightly concerned look on her face. "Utsushimi-san, while that's definitely a noble thing to want to do... what could we possibly even do to help? It's one thing to face off against a Villain, but if we're dealing with an army... th-that's just too much for even a Pro to handle!"

Camie blinked, before pouting slightly. "Whaaat? So, like, y'all just want to leave the Gabu-chans here to suffer? Like, that's so not cool!"

"Th-That's not what I'm saying!" Itsuka quickly tried to defend herself, "We just have to be realistic about our fighting odds! I think the best solution is to help the Gabumon evacuate the village instead."

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Kyouka nodded.

Camie didn't seem particularly happy with this suggestion, however. "And just let those jerks take their stuff without a fight!? Like, I'm sorry, but that's not cool! We're supposed to be Heroes, right? We can't just tuck our tails between our legs when people need saving!"

Mina frowned slightly where she sat. "But... we kinda just got lucky against those Vegi-guys from before, didn't we? How do we know we could even stand a chance again this Miss Black?"

"I think Utsushimi-senpai has a point." Izuku spoke up. "Even if we manage to evacuate all of the Gabumon, how are we supposed to hide an entire village's worth of Digimon? If Miss Black figures out what happened and chases after them, then we really didn't save them at all."

"That may be so, but I still think we have better chances this way." Itsuka reiterated. "Maybe they won't even bother going after the Gabumon, and just take the village for themselves!"

"Would've done that already, no...?" Yui pointed out, which Itsuka had to quietly acquiesce to.

Candmon hopped up and down energetically. "Lemme at 'em! Lemme at 'em, I say! We'll BAFF! And ZOW! And blow 'em all away when they try to hurt anyone!"

"I must agree with Candmon." Labramon nodded, "It simply would not feel right to turn our backs, and leave such villains to run wild as they please."

Alraumon frowned, not wholly disagreeing with the sentiment, but clearly being very unsure. "Even with Digivolution on our side, are we really strong enough to make a difference though..."

"Dracomon will do whatever Itsuka wants her to do!" the small dragon cheered.

Neemon just sighed, lounging on the carpet. "You guys are crazy. The better option is always the one that involves the least fighting, don'cha know?"

"I almost want to call that insightful, if I didn't know you just meant running away." Kyouka flatly added.

"Hey, it works!" Neemon shrugged.

"I say we fight." Spadamon spoke up. "That is our destiny as Chosen Digimon! No matter the odds, we fight!"

BlackGabumon quietly hummed. "I must apologize for our situation causing such a disagreement among you, Chosen Ones..."

"I-It's OK, BlackGabumon-san!" Izuku assured him, "We're all just trying to help in our own ways."

Itsuka thought for a moment before reaching the only conclusion that seemed right to her. "Alright, I suppose we'll simply have to leave it to a vote then. Who here thinks evacuation is the better plans?" she raised her hand, Dracomon copying her, along with Mina and Alraumon, and Kyouka and Neemon. "And who votes to stay and fight?" unsurprisingly, Izuku, Spadamon, Yui and Candamon, and Camie and Labramon raised their hands. "Hm... seems we have a tie... then I suppose the last votes go to..." she looked over to the seventh member of the group, who had been shockingly quiet with her opinion all this time.

Bakomon looked up at Saiko, surely waiting for her to decide so he could vote the same. "Intelli-san?" he blinked, noticing Saiko's intense thinking face.

"...BlackGabumon?" she finally spoke up. "I have but one question for you."

The reptile Digimon blinked, growing curious. "Of course, what may I help you with?"

Saiko raised her hand, pointing over to a shelf that have some small tin containers atop it. "Are those, by any chance... tea leaves?"

======

Exermon's eyes narrowed at the smug confidence emanating from Saiko. Did she really think she had won already? How pitiful. "Whatever your game is, I'm afraid it's ended before it even started." she tried to keep her cool monotone in her voice, but her own smugness was showing. "Do you really expect to face me and my men with a single Digimon at your side?"

"She's not alone!"

At the voice of another voice, Exermon turned her head to the right to see Izuku step out from a hut, followed by the white lion cub Spadamon, keeping his trusty blade held slack next to him. The insect general just gave a short scoff. "So there's two of you who stuck around; am I really supposed to feel intimidated?"

"Don't forget about us."

Again Exermon turned her head to the left, seeing Kyouka and Neemon by a wall, with Yui and Candmon a bit further away. "Four..." Exermon muttered under her breath, "That's still not quite enough to stand against my Kuwagamon, I'm sorry to say-"

"Then try seven!"

Exermon's eye twitched glancing behind her to see Mina with a confident grin on her face, Alraumon standing right beside her. Further to the side, Camie and Labramon closed off the rear, while Itsuka and Dracomon stood on the roof of a large hut to completely surround Exermon and her men. "Seven, is it... The Seven Chosen Warriors of Legend, all gathered here? For such a pitiful little village? Isn't it beneath you, wasting your time on Digimon who won't even help themselves?"

"Helping those who can't help themselves is exactly what all of us want to do!" Izuku answered.

======

"Are you sure this will work, Intelli-senpai?"

Saiko hummed in thought as she watched the Gabumon slowly fill up the village center. "I can't say with the utmost confidence that I am, no." she answered Izuku. "But whether we fail to convince them, or leave them be while we handle all the preparations, the result is the same; we have nothing to lose by trying."

"Everyone, please pay attention!" BlackGabumon ordered the others. "I know these last few months have been hard on all of you. On all of us. For too long now, it feels as if we are trapped in a nightmare from which there is no waking up from! We cower before the buzzing wings of the monsters who steal our food. We keep our heads down, letting these invaders take away everything we work so hard for! But now, we have the chance to change that!" he tapped his cane on the ground, before motioning with it to the humans and Digimon standing behind him. "We have been given an opportunity to strike back! The Chosen Heroes of Destiny have agreed to fight on our behalf!"

Immediately an uncertain rumble made its way through the crowd, the Gabumon trembling and muttering as soon as they heard the word "fight".

"Elder, you can't be serious!" a Gabumon spoke up.

"We know what happened to Psychemon Village; why would you want us to go through the same!"

"It's hopeless to fight! Not only will we be crushed, we'll be punished for even attempting to fight back!"

"Miss Black always leaves us with enough food, r-right? Enough to survive!"

"What use is there to fight! If we just surrender and keep working for them, then we'll at least still be alive to-"

"SILENCE! THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU!" BlackGabumon immediately shouted the crowd down. "Listen to yourselves! These bandits leave us with scraps, and you try to claim it is a mercy!? You speak of surrender, of shying away from taking a stand out of fear of how they might harm you; meanwhile, our younglings cry each night over their empty stomachs! Will you still look them in the eyes and tell them, this is for the best!? That the ones meant to protect and nurture them could not do the latter, because they refused to do the former!?"

The Gabumon crowd flinched at this, their murmuring growing quiet out of shame. And yet, one Gabumon still meekly raised his hand- "Maybe we could ask them to leave a little more next time...?"

"These bandits care nothing for us, or our plight! What reason would they have to hear your plea?" BlackGabumon gruffly asked, which quickly cowed the meek Gabumon. Despite this, the crowd still seemed very much too nervous to ever step up.

Seeing enough, Saiko stepped forward. "BlackGabumon-san, please allow me to take it from here." the village elder nodded, stepping back to let Saiko address the crowd. "We realize this is a very difficult time for all of you. And because of this, none of us blame you for your fear. That is why we will not ask you to fight alongside us; all we ask is that you let us fight for you!"

The crowd quietly buzzed, still unconvinced, but with just enough uncertainty to steel Saiko's resolve.

"But in order for us to have the best possible chance at succeeding, we will still need your help. We will require every one of you to make preparations for the coming battle. If we should lose, you are free to tell the Chroma Army that we forced you into it; that may spare you any punishment, if our enemy really is that merciful."

"W-Why would you even do this for us!" a Gabumon shouted.

"Who would risk their lives this way for a village..."

Saiko shortly inhaled before answering. "Where we come from, there are thousands of people who risk their lives for the safety of others. They safeguard those who cannot fight for themselves, no matter the cost to themselves. No matter the problem, they gladly step in front of it if it means they can make someone else's life easier. We call these people Heroes, and that's a title all of us hope to achieve. If we were to ignore your plight, then we would have failed on that journey before we even began!"

The crowd grew silent and uneasy, before slowly muttering amongst themselves. The air was impossible to read, their faces still filled with fear, but maybe there would just be enough hope in there somewhere that things would work out for the best.

And finally, one Gabumon raised his hand to ask- "And... we don't have to fight...?"

"You have my word, none of you shall have to see battle if you do not want to." Saiko confidently said.

There was another brief moment of time where the Gabumon hesitantly conversed amongst each other. But sure enough, even despite all of their trepidation, the crowd slowly turned on their opinion, and one by one, agreed to help however they could.

A gentle smile appeared over Saiko's lips, before she bowed deeply towards the Gabumon. "From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. And I assure you, you will not regret this. With your aid, our victory is assured!" she pumped her fist for emphasis, which seemed to instill the Gabumon with just a bit more optimism. "I will pass along your duties in fifteen minutes; I won't lie to you, it will be hard work."

"We are farmers!" a Gabumon spoke up with a surprising chuckle in her voice. "Hard work is what we know best!"

As the crowd chuckled, allowing themselves to bask in their newfound confidence, Saiko just smiled before starting to head back to BlackGabumon's tent.

"Saiko-chan, that was, like, totes great!" Camie cheered. "Who knew you were so good at speeches!"

Saiko's expression flattened a bit. "I'll choose to take that as a compliment..." she huffed. "Bakomon!" she called, urging the Digimon to quickly step up to her with more tea in hand.

"Here you are, Intelli-san!"

"Thank you." she took the humble cup and took a sip, feeling her Quirk open up more and more possibilities ahead of her.

"That really was amazing, Intelli-senpai." Izuku backed up Camie's praise.

"Yes, well!" Saiko cleared her throat, trying to not look too conceited as they praised her, "That was the easy part! We'll have to move quickly to get everything in order. Midoriya-kun, the time?"

Izuku blinked, but quickly checked his Digivice. "It says... five minutes past three."

"Then we only have around fifteen hours to get everything ready."

Itsuka blinked. "Fifteen hours? How can you tell?"

"I asked BlackGabumon-san a few questions after we were done eating." Saiko explained. "Mainly about these Kuwagamon that appear to be our biggest threat. According to him, they are mostly active during the morning; Miss Black has never come to the village past noon. That tells me it's unlikely they will strike today."

"And how do you know they'll attack tomorrow?" Kyouka asked.

"Because all of this is just too coincidental." Saiko said. "Think about it; of all the places we could have ended up in, we just happen to come across two villages under control of the very same people who have been trying to capture us? First Jellymon Village, now this... and what is the common thread between them?"

Yui blinked. "The Poop Eaters..."

"I knew something was off about those creeps!" Mina quickly hissed.

"You really think Geremon and Numemon lead us into a trap on purpose...?" Itsuka asked, clearly more apprehensive about throwing such accusations around.

Saiko took another sip from her tea before answering. "On purpose? I find it likely, but I won't rule out the possibility of the opposite being true. But whether it was on purpose or not, it makes no difference: I am confident we were expected to come here. That is why I suspect Miss Black will strike us at the earliest opportunity she can, when our guard is at our lowest, just like her associate Mister Red did. Taking into account the habits of the Kuwagamon, I expect that to be around dawn; anywhere between four and five in the morning."

"Thus, the fifteen hours to prepare..." Izuku muttered.

"You really think that's enough?" Kyouka asked.

Saiko answered quickly by shaking her head. "No. That isn't nearly enough time, but it's what we have to make the best use out of."

Kyouka's expression turned a bit more nervous. "Then what was with all the confidence earlier? I mean, you promised those guys you could win this."

"When did I ever imply I was lying about that?" Saiko asked as a smug smirk crossed her lips. "We may be outnumbered and strapped for time, but Gabumon Village has one great advantage that our enemies couldn't hope to have..."

The others blinked, Mina growing curious enough to ask: "What's that?"

And Saiko's smug smirk grew into a full-blown grin. "They have Intelli Saiko on their side, of course~!"

The others were left staring dumbfounded at Saiko's flagrant swagger as she walked to the hut.

"Just follow my lead, everyone!" Saiko said. "My formula of success is already decided!"

======

Turning to him, Exermon looked... confused. Which, in turn, confused Izuku too, but he didn't have much time to focus on that. "Please... don't make me laugh." Exermon chuckled, "I don't know what your purpose here is, and I do not care much to find out. Boss Gray's orders are to eliminate you. And that is exactly what I intend to do." raising her arm, Miss Black seemed ready to call for the attack. Instead she waited for a second, eyes firmly fixed on the girl standing below, "Unless you make this easier on all of us. Surrender now, and spare us the trouble of your inevitable defeat."

Saiko didn't budge, still facing Exermon with a smirk. "How interesting... I was just about to ask you the same thing."

Exermon's eyes subtly twitched at the sheer lack of respect thrown her way. Was this mere child really so confident of her success? No, it had to be a bluff. Exermon quietly chuckled before raising her hand. "Very well, then. You've made your choice." with a snap of her fingers, she gave her order. The Kuwagamon soon turned, facing themselves towards the Chosen who surrounded them.

The war had just begun.

======

The lone Hagurumon sighed out of sheer boredom as he lounged in his workstation. Although calling it that might be giving it too much credit: it was little more than a small wooden table, where his laptop sat on, and the camera was propped up next to it. All of this, and him, were stuffed inside a cramped wooden crate, too small to even be called a cubicle.

Certainly he understood the need for subtlety, but did he really have to sacrifice basic creature comforts for that? He barely had room to stretch his gear-hands, and all he had to entertain himself were the simplistic games on the laptop. At least he had that much, he supposed, as he amused himself with a simple but addicting pinball game, trying to beat his own high-score, before-

Knock knock knock!

"Hm?" he blinked, glancing behind him. He grunted, figuring one of the many forest creatures had maybe stumbled across his hiding place. Normally he'd ignore it, but if they started chewing on the cables, that could mean losing the feed. He floated out of his seat, and swung open the wooden door to catch whatever was snooping out there in the act. "Alright, time to cut that out!"

He then stared, instead seeing Bakomon and Spadamon staring back at him.

"...oh, nuts."

With a sudden cry, Bakomon and Spadamon jumped at the Hagurumon, shoving him back inside the crate as the door shut behind them. The crate tumbled and shook, and in a few short seconds, the door swung back open as the unconscious Hagurumon got unceremoniously dumped back out, covered in bruises and wrapped up in duct tape.

"Capital work, you two!" Saiko cheered as Izuku and her approached the crate, the latter looking quite surprised as he looked at the small construction, covered in greenery to blend in as much as possible with the forest's backdrop, as it overlooked Gabumon Village from a distant hill.

"A-Amazing, Intelli-senpai! You were right!" as soon as he peeked inside the crate, he could tell exactly what this was: the camera pointed towards the village, with the live feed on the laptop made it pretty clear Saiko's prediction was correct all along. "But, how did you know they've been spying on the village?"

Saiko stepped inside the crate, taking the chair to quickly begin to work on the laptop. It wasn't the most modern of models by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it wasn't a fossil like the computer at Mister Blue's factory. "I didn't really consider it at first, not until I began asking BlackGabumon more questions. Turns out Miss Black's instructions were quite specific on where and how the Gabumon were expected to place their food: always in the exact same spot, and always out in the open. What's more, Miss Black always seems to make her visit just as the final stack of meat is placed down, without fail."

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" asked Spadamon as he sat atop the Hagurumon to make sure the Digimon wouldn't try to be trouble.

"BlackGabumon made no mention of Miss Black ever sending any scouts to the village to check on the crops. They only ever make an appearance when they've come to collect their food, so I figured that they must be keeping an eye out on the village some other way." she pointed at the laptop's screen, and the footage of Gabumon Village; more specifically, the pile of food bags mounted on the village's edge, plainly visible on the screen. "So, if they were keeping eyes on the village, then it was only a matter of deducing the spot with the most visibility towards the stockpile."

"That's incredible, Intelli-san!" Bakomon cheered.

Saiko didn't take the time to revel in the praise, much as she wanted to, as she quickly set back to work, her fingers danging atop the laptop's keyboard. "It's actually quite lucky for us they have this setup. If we want to do any sort of work on the village, we can't risk our enemy seeing it happen in real time."

"Then, how's it lucky for us if they have a live feed of the village?" asked Izuku.

"It just makes that much easier to show them what we want them see!" Saiko said with a light chuckle. "I'll simply set up the feed to replay yesterday's footage, leaving them none the wiser about our work!"

"Sneaky..." said Spadamon, sounding a bit impressed despite trying to remain aloof.

"As expected from the great Intelli-san!" Bakomon cheered again, and this time, Saiko did allow herself a few seconds to bask in the compliment.

Izuku nodded, but his mind was already elsewhere. "Then... if you have everything in control here, maybe I can still catch up to Jirou-san and Utsushimi-senpai if-"

"Midoriya-kun, not this again!" Saiko quickly interrupted him with a firm tone. "They will be fine! You have a job elsewhere."

"B-But... they're going right to Miss Black's base!" Izuku argued, "Isn't sending just the two of them alone dangerous?"

"Recon missions usually work best with less people, Midoriya-kun." Saiko sighed as she explained for the dozenth time. "I made sure to take every possibility into account; if I felt like they needed more backup, then I would have sent more of us. Right now, you're needed back at the village; your super-strength is more useful there than with Utsushimi and Jirou."

"There's no need to worry, Midoriya-san." Bakomon tried to assure him, "Neemon and Labramon are there too; Intelli-san knows exactly what she's doing!"

Reluctantly, Izuku acquiesced to Saiko's authority, giving Bakomon a short nod and a smile. "Alright... I'll head back to the village, and tell everyone we're ready to begin."

======

"Labramon, Digivolve to DOBERMON!"

The ground shook as the Kuwagamon rampaged within the village's walls, as the large black hound launched into the fray. Dobermon shoulder tackled one of the enemy Insect Digimon to the ground, before launching a black beam from its mouth towards an approaching one.

"Neemon, Digivolve to NANIMON!!"

Throwing himself into the battle, Nanimon quickly dispersed a squad of Hagurumon with a series of flashy kicks and punches, punctuated with "haya!" and "sic-seeya!", only stopping to avoid the deadly pincers of a charging Kuwagamon. But Nanimon quickly responded with a well-placed Oyaji Punch to throw the Kuwagamon off its balance in the middle of its charge.

"Dracomon, Digivolve to AIRDRAMON!!"

As several Kuwagamon began taking to the skies, they would be cut off by the Mythical Beast dragon using her tail as a whip to swat the Insects and disorient them long enough before spewing out a burning God Tornado, catching the fearsome foes in swirling blue fire.

"Candmon, Digivolve to MERAMON!!!"

The Flame Digimon quickly joined in with uproarious laughter, launching fireballs into the airborne Kuwagamon to prevent them from picking up any speed and dive upon them with their pincers. One Kuwagamon, however, managed to slip past the torrents of flames, and gain just enough altitude that it could reach a tremendous speed, and try to swoop down on Meramon.

"Alraumon, Digivolve to KABUKIMON!"

The flowery Digimon leapt gracefully like the wind, kicking aside two Kuwagamon in the process as she jumped off of them, before unleashing a storm of sakura petals, creating a thick cloud that hid her and Meramon. The diving Kuwagamon launched itself right into the cloud, only to crash straight into the dirt as its targets were already gone.

"Blue Brave!"

"Gum Roll!"

Spadamon and Bakomon threw themselves against the many Hagurumon storm troopers, the lion keeping them at bay with his sword, as the box-covered Digimon trapped them in tape. Several Hagurumon managed to position themselves behind the two Digimon amidst the fighting, their bodies opening up to launch several black gears as projectiles, only for a crackling green blur to immediately kick them away. Izuku poured all the strength he could muster into his legs, kicking off from the ground to swat aside a few Hagurumon with his Shoot Style kicks, Itsuka soon joining in with her enlarged fists to punch the Hagurumon that began circling them.

A handful of scribble-devils floated along the air, Camie's illusions serving to distract some of the Kuwagamon to prevent them from overwhelming her partner, as Dobermon headbutt one of the insects in the torso, before firing a point-blank Schwarz Strahl against it. Meanwhile, Airdramon began raining down hundreds of needle-like blades of wind with Spinning Needle onto their foes, managing to scatter the opposing forces further.

Nanimon narrowly avoided being skewered by a Kuwagamon's pincer, quickly wrapping his arm around the appendage to grab the proverbial bull by its horns, and hold his foe in place. When several Hagurumon approached, Kabukimon quickly jumped in to protect her brother in arms, firing energy beams from her hands to keep the Hagurumon scattered.

"Hang in there, Kabukimon!" yelled Mina.

"Nanimon, let's do this!" shouted Kyouka with resolve in her voice. "Kodai!" she called to the quiet girl.

Yui nodded as she was given the green light, turning to her own partner. "Meramon!"

"HWAH HA HA! You got it, Yui!! I'm fired up, and ready to go!!" the burning Digimon shouted, the flames on his body flaring up intensely, lighting up the grey morning like a bonfire. "Crimson Flame!!" Meramon hurled several large fireballs, but rather than striking any enemy, they bounced across the ground to set alight several trails of flames close to the Kuwagamon.

Exermon watched the battle unfold from atop her Kuwagamon, hovering above the ground just below Airdramon's level. Her eyes narrowed as Meramon created more walls of fire, clearly trying to limit the amount of space the Kuwagamon could maneuver in, but she could tell there was something more to all of this. Dobermon and Kabukimon quickly made sure to keep the Kuwagamon on their feet, blasting them with energy beams, while Nanimon proceeded to lift one of the Insects, and throw it away with a mighty swing. It took Exermon a while before she realized all of their attacks, along with Airdramon's continuous bombing with Spinning Needle, were driving all of her troops away from the village center, but she couldn't figure out why. Wouldn't the logical course of action be to cluster as many of them as possible, and take them out with concentrated attacks?

It wasn't until it was too late that Exermon finally realized what the plan here truly was, as the Chosen Digimon's concentrated attacks managed to drive two of her Kuwagamon closer to one of the walls built overnight, and just as they did so, the ground collapsed underneath the Insects feet, dumping them down a trap hole. "I see... that's what you meant by 'keeping us in', Intelli Saiko!?" Exermon growled, but she maintained her composure as she glared down at the girl, who hadn't left her position; and most frustratingly of all, hadn't lost her smug smirk. "But it's no use! You seem to have failed to account for the obvious detail that my Kuwagamon have wings! A trap hole is pointless against them!"

"The only one who has failed to account for anything is you, Miss Black, if you think that is the extent of my planning!" Saiko quickly shouted back. "We are not the only ones defending this village!"

Exermon's eyes widened as she looked back towards the downed Kuwagamon, and quickly noticed something. The walls were all positioned near the village's various huts. And the windows and doors of those huts would soon swing open, revealing many Gabumon that had been lying in wait!

======

Psychemon let out a grunt as she swung a piece of log against a tree, striking the trunk over and over again in frustration. "Stupid...! Cowardly...-! I'll show them! I'll fight by myself if I have to! I'll show them... I'll show-!"

"Oi! Psychemon-san!"

The Digimon blinked, looking back as she heard a voice calling to her; not one of the Gabumon, she'd be surprised if any of them even dared venture this far out of the village, but one of the strange humans that had shown up earlier that day. Her eyes narrowed, not feeling particularly enthused with speaking to any of the humans, let alone the plain-looking green one. "What do you want? If you're expecting an apology or something; forget it!"

Izuku stopped his run over to her, blinking with a confused look on his face. "Apology? Why would I want an apology?"

Psychemon just clicked her tongue. "Forget it. And go away; I'm busy!"

"Ah, s-sorry..." Izuku bowed his head slightly, "It's just that BlackGabumon-san was worried about you, so-"

"So he sent you out here to bring me back to the village?" Psychemon scoffed.

"A-Actually, I volunteered. I was kinda worried myself, after the way you stormed off..." Izuku admitted, "BlackGabumon-san told us about what you went through. What happened to your village..."

The Reptile Digimon growled, aiming a glare at the human. "Yeah? So what!? You think you're gonna come here and tell me it'll all be OK!? Try and make me feel better, or that you understand what I'm going through!? Don't make me laugh!"

Izuku didn't flinch even as Psychemon started shouting at him. "Well... it's kind of the opposite, really..." he said. "I really can't say I personally know what you're going through, since I've never been through anything even remotely similar myself. But a friend of mine did, once."

While Psychemon still looked fairly annoyed, curiosity did spark in her eyes as Izuku spoke. "...what happened to him?"

"Where we come from, there was this... person... he was know as the Hero Killer: Stain. He was a notorious criminal, wanted for the murders of several Heroes, and for years, nobody managed to catch him. Eventually, Stain targeted the brother of my friend. He was lucky to survive the attack, but... the injuries Stain put on him crippled him. The doctors believe he will never be able to walk again. When news of this got to my friend, Iida... he was understandably angry at this."

"I'd say!" Psychemon snarled, "I'd want a piece of anyone who'd hurt someone close to me too!"

"I can imagine. I don't blame Iida at all for how or what he felt, much like I can't really blame you for feeling the same way. It's not wrong to feel angry." Izuku continued, "But... what you choose to do with that anger, I think that's where you can make a grave mistake."

Psychemon's eyes narrowed, quickly growing defensive. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Iida tried to take out his anger by hunting down the Hero Killer himself, without telling anyone what he was planning, or alerting any Heroes when he found Stain. He was so focused on taking him down by himself, and that nearly got him killed. I can't even begin to describe how lucky it was that I happened to put the pieces together when I did, so I could find out where he was and help him."

Psychemon just scoffed again. "Is that all you have to say to me? That I'm an idiot for trying to take on the Chroma Army by myself, right!? Well, what the hell am I supposed to do!? I can't rely on anyone else! If nobody's going to fight at my side, then I'll do it myself! I don't care what you say!"

"Th-That's not what I'm trying to tell you at all!" Izuku quickly interjected. "I've already told you, I don't blame Iida for anything that he did, and I wouldn't blame you either for wanting to do the same. Right now, this feels like it's the only option you have, and I get that. Iida did as well, and even though I knew this to be the case... I didn't say anything to try and help him. Even though I knew he was hurting, I made the choice not to get involved then. If I had tried to, then maybe I could have helped him think of something different, or something..." he sighed quietly. "What I'm trying to say is... I'm not going to make that mistake twice."

Blinking, Psychemon raised her eyebrow, then noticed Izuku's gaze growing more determined as he smiled at her.

"I want to help you, Psychemon-san!" he said, "And I'm not the only one!"

Psychemon still looked rather lost and suspicious, even in the face of Izuku's determination. "W-Why? It's not like you even know me! And I never asked for your help either!"

"Maybe not, but... butting in on people's problems, even without being asked, is what Heroes do."

The Digimon paused at this, an internal struggle being visible on her face as she debated trusting this human or not. "Even if I accept that... what, do you have any plan to take on Miss Black, or something?" she looked at him with some apprehension, but also a little bit of hope that he would have an answer for her. She then blinked, seeing Izuku hold out his hand for her.

"Come with me. There's something you need to see."

Psychemon's eyes were wide as they entered Gabumon Village, as she could hardly believe what she was seeing. Everywhere she looked, the Gabumon farmers rushed back and forth, carrying logs and rocks to and fro, while many others dug fervently into the dirt with shovels. Their terrified expressions were replaced with hardened looks of resolution, as they worked as hard on the village's new defenses as they would on any harvest, if not more so. But it wasn't just the Gabumon, as Psychemon could see several of the other humans and their Digimon partners also helping out with the construction.

"A while after you left, Intelli-senpai convinced the village we could fight on their behalf." he looked down at Psychemon, assuring her: "We're going to get through this. But we're all going to do it together. You don't have to fight alone."

The Digimon still looked floored, but that was quickly replaced by a growing feeling of excitement and gratitude. She looked up at Izuku and nodded her head. "Th-...Thank you..." she stammered a bit, before realizing, "Uhm... I don't even know your name..."

Izuku just chuckled quietly. "It's Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet you!" he then turned in the direction of the person calling all the shots: "Intelli-senpai! I found Psychemon-san!"

The girl turned over to the two as she supervised the digging elsewhere. "Good! Then you can both grab some tools, and join in!"

"N-Not wasting any time, I see..." Izuku said with an awkward chuckle.

"Just tell me what to do, and consider it done!" Psychemon said with plenty of energy to give.

Saiko approached the two, quickly figuring out what was needed the most. "Alright then, you will join with the Gabumon in the forest. We need a few more tree trunks for-"

"Saiko-chan? Yoohoo~! Saikoooo-chaaaan~!"

Saiko flinched as the walkie-talkie tied to her belt sprung to life. She quickly grabbed it, responding with a huff: "Utsushimi-kun! We've been over this; do not use real names over the communicators! That's what the codenames are for! My handle is Leader-1!"

"Eeeeeh...? But, like, you just called be Utsushimi, right?"

"Th-That's because you caught me by surprise!" Saiko bristled, even as her cheeks grew a bit pink at her blatant mistake.

When the radio responded back, it was with a different voice: "Look, just let it go, we've got more important stuff to worry about!" Kyouka pushed herself into the conversation, "We're making our way back from the Chroma Army base."

"Did you come across any trouble, Jirou-san!" Izuku immediately jumped in closer to Saiko much to her surprise, speaking into the radio.

"No, we're fine. Utsushimi's Quirk was really useful in keeping us hidden."

"It was way tough to make good-looking illusions and have them last, but I pulled out all the stops~!" Camie responded.

"Well? What did you find?" Saiko put the conversation back on track, as that was the whole reason she sent the two on a recon assignment in the first place.

"There's about eleven of those big red bug guys." Kyouka said, "So that's not looking good for our odds already."

Saiko hummed in thought. "Eleven Kuwagamon, when only five of our Digimon can evolve... those are not the numbers I would like to hear."

"Well, it gets worse..." Kyouka continued, "We saw a bunch of those gear-looking guys too, like the ones from that factory? Most of them just seemed to be working in construction of a new one, but there was a large group of them separated from the rest of the herd. At first I thought they were just resting, but one of them arrived and started speaking to them to 'be prepared' for an assault."

"Foot soldiers, no doubt." Saiko deduced. "Looks like our foes aren't taking any chances when it comes to this attack. How many?"

"Twenty six, twenty seven..." Kyouka answered.

"Th-That's a lot..." Izuku gulped.

"Yes, but there's not much we can do about it now." Saiko said, "Our primary focus should still be on taking out the Kuwagamon with the help of our Digimon; we'll just fight the Hagurumon ourselves if we must."

"Hey, hey! Tell them about the other thing we found!"

"Oh, right!" Kyouka continued, "We also saw a bunch of Digimon being held in cages. They looked like the Gabumon but pink, kinda like that Psychemon chick."

"What!?" Psychemon quickly rushed in, nearly bowling over Saiko to grab her arm and talk directly into the radio, "You saw the other Psychemon!? Th-They're still alive!?"

"There were a bunch of them, yeah." Kyouka responded. "Looked pretty battered, but they were definitely alive."

"G-Give me my arm back-!" Saiko wrenched her arm free of Psychemon's grasp, not that the Digimon payed any attention to it as she was just ecstatic to learn this bit of good news. "Alright, well... we've got our hands full here as it is, I don't think we can slot in a prison break into our plans..."

"So we're just going to leave them there!? Like, how is that cool!?" Camie quickly made her disapproval well known. "I don't know what they teach you at your school, but for us, we're told saving civilians comes first, and taking down the baddies comes second!"

Saiko grimaced, but tried to respond as calmly as possible. "I am prioritizing their safety! Look, if we can take down Miss Black here, then we'll have an open path to freeing the other Psychemon as soon as we're through! If we attack their base we'll only be at a disadvantage, and will only be putting the prisoners in unnecessary danger. If we had time on our side I would think differently, but as things stand, we can only play with the cards we've been dealt with no matter how unfortunate they may be. We stick to the plan, and that is final!"

Camie didn't verbally respond, but Saiko heard the disapproving grunt the girl made just fine.

"Jirou-kun, is she...?"

"She stormed off, but she's still heading the same way we were going." Kyouka responded. "I don't think she'll try and cowboy a rescue herself. We should be back at the village after sundown."

"Good. Please be as hasty as you can, and alert me if anything else comes up. Intelli out." she lowered the radio and sighed. "Alright, maybe I can shift some of my plans around, and think of some traps for the Hagurumon..."

"You just leave them to us!"

Saiko, Izuku and Psychemon blinked, noticing a group of Gabumon that had just been listening in. "We'll hold them off!"

"W-Wait, are you sure about this?" Izuku asked, "We meant what we said; you guys don't have to fight if you don't want to!"

"We know that, but..." a Gabumon said.

"Well, a bunch of us got to talking..."

"And we decided we couldn't just stand back after that speech! If we want to protect our village, then we have to go all the way!"

"We might be scared, but we don't want to just roll over for these Chroma jerks!"

Saiko slowly regained her smile and nodded firmly. "Very well! In that case, adjusting my plans will be even easier! We thank you for your help, Gabumon!"

The Gabumon smiled, before they turned to Psychemon. "Psychemon, we're sorry."

"We should've been more thoughtful of your feelings."

"If the other Psychemon can still be saved, then we'll fight to make sure you can get back home!"

Psychemon was already furiously rubbing her teary eyes. "Y-You guys... Whatever happened doesn't matter anymore! I'm just-... Thank you!" she looked back at them, "Thank you for helping me!"

"Now, let's go!" one of the Gabumon gave her an ax, "We have work to do!"

"Alright! Let's do this!" Psychemon cheered, excitedly running off with the Gabumon for her task.

While Izuku initially started to follow them, he found himself holding back as a question popped into his head. "Hey, Intelli-senpai? Earlier you said we only had five Digimon that could transform..."

She looked at him with a short tilt of her head. "Yes?"

"Don't you mean six? Bakomon's the only one who hasn't evolved, after all."

"Well, yes, but I don't think I would feel comfortable counting Spadamon."

Izuku blinked. "What? Why not?"

Saiko just looked at him with a confused look on her face. "Midoriya-kun, he hasn't transformed since the day we got here."

Izuku opened his mouth to argue... but he really couldn't. He hadn't even realized that until just now.

"I don't know why, and I do not have the time to really look into it either." Saiko continued. "As it is, I simply can't count on him to bolster our forces through evolution."

Izuku frowned, wondering why it was that Spadamon hadn't evolved since that first day. He nodded when Saiko told him to head off and get to work, and while he did so, he still couldn't get Spadamon off his mind. Was something holding him back...?

===

"CHARGE!"

At Psychemon's call, the Gabumon all stormed out of their hiding places, charging against the Hagurumon with their horns and farming tools, helping hold back the opposing army of Hagurumon.

A group of Gabumon quickly charged the trap holes that held the Kuwagamon, each one holding in their hands football-sized bags that they threw as hard as they could into the air over the holes. Spotting this, Yui brought her hands together with a short call of "release", and in an instant, the bags grew to their original size, each one now larger than a grown man. As soon as the bags grew to their full size, the Gabumon launched blue fire from their mouths, striking the bags to burn them open, and unleash a torrent of dirt  down onto the holes, quickly burying the Kuwagamon. While they weren't completely covered, it was enough to leave the giant bugs struggling and failing to free themselves.

"That's two down!" Kyouka called out, "Nanimon! Kabukimon!"

"OK!" Nanimon shouted back, before he and Kabukimon threw themselves at two other Kuwagamon. "Oyaji Punch!" Nanimon threw a glowing fist against the beast, while Kabukimon struck the other with a flying kick, forcing the monsters back.

As both Digimon kept up the pressure on their foes, Yui was already rushing over to the several large tree trunks that had been stacked up nearby the walls. With a press of her hand, she started shrinking them down as quickly as she could until they were each the size of baseball bats, allowing Kyouka and various Gabumon to pick them up in their arms. As soon as they heard the thunderous noise of the Kuwagamon being dumped into another trap hole, they swiftly made their way of to it, throwing the shrunken trees before Yui released her Quirk's hold. The trees regained their original size, crumbling down on top of the hole to pin the Kuwagamon beneath their huge weight.

Yui stumbled, feeling the physical strain her Quirk's use was having on her thanks to whatever strange force had weakened all of them since coming here, but she steeled herself as she began rushing towards the next trap, accompanied by several Gabumon. "Camie-san!"

Camie glanced at Yui with a nod as she saw the girl and Digimon take their position behind a wall made out of loose boulders, then turned to her partner. "Dobermon, let's do our best!" she blew out a purple mist, forcing her body to its limit in order to create the largest illusionary devil she possibly could. It served to distract the Kuwagamon as it swatted at the fake, allowing Dobermon to slam into it from behind, slicing at the monster with the blades located on the back of its legs. The Kuwagamon stumbled, and a following Schwarz Strahl made sure to send it tumbling right into the third trap hole. Once it did, Yui proceeded to shrink down several of the boulders at the bottom of the wall, destabilizing it enough so the Gabumon could push over the entire thing with greater ease, and trap the Kuwagamon beneath them.

In the span of only a few minutes they had succeeded in cutting down the Kuwagamon's numbers by nearly half!

Exermon still stood atop her Kuwagamon as the beast was locked in aerial combat with Airdramon, but the events happening at ground level did not escape her. Far from it, as Exermon only grew increasingly more furious as she saw her army thin down by the minute. With a furious growl, Exermon leapt off of her mount, free falling down towards the soil, aimed directly at Saiko like a missile. "Even if I lose this battle, I'll make sure to take at least one of you down!"

But before she could reach her, she noticed a green blur dash at her side, Exermon twisting her body to block Izuku's kick as he intercepted her in midair. Unfortunately for him, Exermon was frighteningly fast, and despite still falling, she proceeded to grab hold of Izuku's shirt and pull on his entire body, flipping around so Izuku was now suddenly beneath her. Placing her feet on his back, Exermon drove Izuku into the ground as they landed.

"Meddlesome little pest-!" she spat, stomping a foot onto Izuku's back just to hear him cry out in pain.

"Midoriya-kun!" Saiko shouted, but then flinched as Exermon immediately focused on her again. The Digimon then charged straight towards Saiko, sparks flying out from around her hands. Except Exermon's run would be cut short, as she felt something grab hold of her leg and pull her back.

Sparks of energy flew off from Izuku's arm as he poured every last ounce of power he could from One For All, having forced himself back to his feet and pulling Exermon towards him, aiming a left-handed fist to collide against her torso. But Exermon continued to prove too slippery, her body twisting so she could swat Izuku in the face with her free leg, stopping Izuku's punch before it connected. Exermon then landed on both feet, sending two fists of her own that collided with Izuku's stomach and the side of his head.

"Defibrilla-shock!" Exermon's hands began glowing as more sparks flew off of them, before she struck Izuku's chest with an open-palm strike, pumping an electrical attack right into his body. Izuku let out a loud cry of agony as he was shocked, before he fell backwards onto the dirt once more. "Hrmph!" she grunted, "I'll finish you afterwards." she then turned to Saiko, beginning to slowly approach her. "I'm sure you will appreciate this, Chosen One. You are clearly the leader of this group; without your help, this plan would have never succeeded as well as it has for you. That's why I've elected you the greatest threat I must dispose of first. The other will fall like dominoes without you around."

"Intelli-san!" Bakomon rushed over in front of his partner, spreading out his arms to protect her. "I-I won't let you lay a hand on her!"

"How touching." Exermon mockingly said, "And just what do you plan on-" she then stopped, feeling a hand around her ankle again. Looking down, sure enough, Izuku had dragged himself towards her, grabbing her leg to keep her from advancing any further on Saiko. "Those who can't tell when they're beaten... I hate people like that!" she quickly spun around, kicking Izuku right in the face as she did so to throw him off of her.

"Blue Brav-hghk!" Spadamon's attempt at attacking Exermon from the side was unsuccessful, as the Insect Digimon held out her hand to grab him by the throat as he jumped. Sparks flew off from her hand, before Spadamon let out a painful howl as he was zapped by Exermon's electricity until he finally went limp in her grap.

"Now, if we are finished with all the interruptions...!" she growled, simply tossing Spadamon aside against Izuku like she were throwing out an old piece of clothing.

Izuku flinched as Spadamon landed on him, his eyes creaking open to watch Exermon stalk Saiko amidst the chaos around them. The Gabumon had their hands full with the Hagurumon, and everyone else still had to contend with the remaining Kuwagamon; no one could spare the time to help Saiko and Bakomon amidst the fighting.

Even as his body screamed from the earlier electric shock, Izuku forced his arms and legs to start moving, to claw his way onto his hands and knees, willing to crawl all the way to Exermon if he had to. He noticed the singed white fur of Spadamon slowly try to crawl alongside him, the small lion not willing to give up just yet either.

"I-...Izuku...!" the lion exchanged a painful glance with Izuku.

And the boy nodded, understanding that look perfectly.

======

"Gnah! Rrah! Hnnah!!" Spadamon grunted and shouted as he hacked away at a tree, even as the bones in his body screamed at him to stop.

Well, his bones, as well as- "Spadamon, we're on break! You can stop!"

The lion grunted with one last swing of the ax, glancing back at Izuku as he puffed air out of his lungs. All of the Gabumon had stopped for dinner, leaving Spadamon alone to keep hacking away at the tree. "We don't have time to rest!" he snarled as Izuku approached. "Don't you get it! If we slow down, then we might be caught empty handed! Intelli-san's traps have to be followed to the letter!"

Izuku flinched a bit, but still kept a peace-keeping smile on his face. "I-I understand that, but even with so much riding on Intelli-senpai's plans, she still insisted we all take rests. Ten minutes isn't going to set us back or anything, so here!" he held up some of the meat he'd brought, "I brought you some-"

"YOU DON'T GET IT AT ALL!"

Izuku flinched again as Spadamon shouted at him, then immediately turned to the tree to continue hacking away at it, seemingly giving up on the conversation straight away. He just stood there in silence for a few seconds, looking at Spadamon's back, wondering if he should even say anything at all. "...you have to work harder than everyone else. Or else, you won't catch up."

Spadamon froze before he took another swing, quickly looking back over his shoulder at Izuku with widened eyes.

"I'd like to say I noticed it, but I didn't even realize it until Intelli-senpai told me..." Izuku continued. "You can't digivolve again, can you?"

The lion jolted, his expression quickly souring. "Th-That's not true! I-I can Digivolve whenever I want to! Who do you think you are to say lies like that!?"

"S-Sorry, but..." Izuku fidgetted in his place a bit, but he wasn't backing down, "You don't have to hide it. It's not like anyone else is going to think differently of you if you just say what's the matter, Spadamon."

Spadamon growled quietly, aiming a glare up at Izuku. "Don't make me laugh! Of course they will! Y-You heard Intelli-san during the plan meeting; she gave everyone else the responsibility of handling the Kuwagamon except me! Because she thinks I'm weak!"

"Spadamon, that's not the case at all!" Izuku tried to reason, "Intelli-senpai's just playing into everyone's strengths; she's not demoting you or anything like that! You're just as important to her plans as everyone else, and you even have Bakomon by your side too! Do you think Intelli-senpai's calling him weak?"

"Th-That's completely different!" Spadamon tried to argue, "Bakomon just hasn't unlocked his evolution yet! But I did! I should- I should be better than this!"

Seeing the young lion start to tremble as he clearly held back a lot of emotions, Izuku set down the food to step closer, kneeling down in front of Spadamon. "Spadamon, just because you unlock some kind of power right one time, it doesn't always mean you've instantly mastered it." he held up his arm, drawing attention to the various scars that adorned his hand. "Believe me, I've been through that..."

"Well everyone else can!" Spadamon said back, "S-So clearly something's wrong with me! O-Or maybe...!" he then aimed a finger at Izuku, "You're the one doing something wrong!"

Izuku blinked at this, looking surprised. "M-Me!?"

"Yeah, you!" Spadamon huffed, "I-I still don't know if you're my Izuku! You could just be an imposter after all! A-And maybe... maybe you're the one holding me back somehow!"

Izuku frowned, taking a moment to think. He reached down at his Digivice, picking up the device to hold it up. "But you did evolve the first time, right?"

Spadamon flinched, clearly not taking very long to see the gaping flaw in his own reasoning. "Y-Yes... b-but... I-I don't know, m-maybe that was a fluke! Or something! J-...Just let me see that!"

He blinked, but did as Spadamon asked, handing over the Digivice to him.

The young lion huffed, quickly pressing buttons. "I-I'm sure you did something to break it! Or-...Or maybe you're holding it wrong! Or-..." Spadamon paused and blinked, staring at the odd screen with only one single rectangular bar at the bottom, only now it was stuck blinking. "What's this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Izuku admitted, shifting his position a bit so he could look at the Digivice's screen. "I've actually asked the others if theirs was doing the same, but... almost everyone else's has two bars. Kendou-san's has three though, but that doesn't really help narrow down what it might mean. Although..."

"...?" Spadamon blinked, "What?"

"W-Well... I might have a theory, but I really don't have anything to back it up." he explained. "Like I said, Kendou-san is the only one with three bars... and, well, Dracomon is always takling about how much she admires her, right? Ashido, Kodai and Utsushimi-senpai all have two bars, and their relationships with their Digimon are pretty solid as well. Jirou-san has two bars as well, but the top one is blinking; while Neemon and her do seem to get along most of the time, they do still butt heads occasionally over certain things... and, well, not counting Intelli-senpai, who hasn't activated her Digivice yet... the only ones with one bar right now is us. And that bar wasn't blinking when I first checked; it only started doing it... well, today... so if my hunch is right, a blinking bar means it's less than a full bar. If I were to give it a number score, it's a 0.5 to a full bar's 1, to put it simply."

Spadamon blinked, looking a bit confused, but slowly putting together what Izuku was saying. "Wait, so... you think this thing's somehow... showing us how close we are to our partners?"

"That's my theory, anyway." Izuku nodded, "But like I said, it's really just a lot of speculation on my part."

The lion frowned slightly in thought, looking back down at the device. "Then... the reason I can't Digivolve... maybe you need to have a certain amount of bars for it?"

Izuku could only shrug. "Maybe?"

Spadamon's frown only deepened. "Th-Then, how do we get more bars! What, do I just... have to act more like Dracomon? Do I have to talk about you all the time? Or refer to myself in the third person? Th-That'd be really embarrassing..."

"I-I don't think you have to go that far!" Izuku said with a light chuckle. "I just think... we have to be partners, if we want that screen to fill up."

"Partners...?" Spadamon blinked, frowning again.

"When you Digivolved the first time, on the day we met..." Izuku said, "What was going through your mind?"

"...I just... didn't want to see you get hurt by that bully Fugamon, that's all..." Spadamon answered a bit shyly. Izuku didn't say anything, Spadamon glancing back at him to see the boy still staring at him, as if expecting a longer answer. The lion blushed a bit, and slowly stammered out, "W-Well... a-and before that... what you said about... heroes saving those who need help... I-I just thought that-... you looked like someone I could trust after all..."

Izuku quickly smiled at this. "Well, maybe that's the answer? All of the other Digimon evolved in order to protect the people they trusted. So, I guess, at some point, I must've done something to lose your trust."

Spadamon shrunk a bit into himself, his ears drooping. Was that really it? It made sense, of course... but could Spadamon really say that Izuku had done anything wrong? The way it sounded, it was like... everything had been his own fault...

The lion saw something at the corner of his eye, blinking as looked over to Izuku's outstretched hand.

"Spadamon... I'm sorry if I haven't been the partner you deserve up to now." Izuku said with a determined smile. "But, if you'll give me a second chance, I promise I'll work twice as hard- no, ten times as hard, to live up to that title!"

The lion stared at Izuku for a moment, eyes slowly widening, before he focused down on the scarred hand again. His paw slowly raised, but he hesitated.

Something didn't feel right.

Was this really alright?

Is this really how it should go?

"..." Spadamon moved his paw onto Izuku's hand, taking it in a firm handshake. "I trust you, Izuku."

======

"Let's go, Spadamon...!"

"Do it, Izuku!!"

The young lion curled up in a ball, Izuku grabbing hold of him by the back of his blue armor. Raw power coursed through the pained muscles in Izuku's arm, as he charged up One For All once more. "One For All... 100%-!!" he threw his arm back, and gathered all the strength he possibly could to hurl the white furball in his hand forward. "Fast-Ball Special!!!"

Exermon froze in place, feeling a minute shift in the wind, a tickle on the back of neck alerting her to danger. But when she turned her head, it was too late to dodge the oncoming Spadamon-shaped missile that slammed right against her skull with the full brunt of the metal visor on the lion's forehead. Spadamon nearly bounced off of Exermon's head with how hard they'd collided, both him and Exermon falling down, seemingly in slow motion for him. But that only let him see Exermon quickly regain her bearings, even while in the middle of falling over, readjusting her whole body in less than a second to regain her balance, and thrust a hand out to grab hold of Spadamon by his leg, sparks already flying out of-

"RRRAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" only for Izuku to come charging in like a bat out of hell, launching himself with a knee directly to Exermon's spine. The Insect Digimon let out a choked cry, her grip on Spadamon loosening as Izuku forced her down to the dirt for the first time. "INTELLI! BAKOMON! RUN!!" ss soon as they landed, Izuku was already preparing to jump again and grab Spadamon to get him further away for safety, as Saiko and Bakomon retreated away from the scene.

Unfortunately, he didn't get very far after grabbing Spadamon, as Exermon wasted no time in getting back up, and immediately lunge towards Izuku, a crackling electrical palm striking him in the back. The shock was mercifully short, but both Izuku and Spadamon crashed to the ground yet again, and it was pure survival instinct that let Izuku get back on his knees as quickly as he did. But as soon as he did so, the Exermon-shaped blur had practically slide over the ground to him, proceeding to slam her four fists right into his face in a brutal flurry of punches.

"YOU-! UTTERLY-! CONTEMPTFUL-! SWINE!!" Exermon furiously snarled, raining down blow after blow on izuku as he desperately tried to shield Spadamon. "I GAVE YOU A CHANCE! A CHANCE TO LIVE, AND FIGHT TO LOSE ANOTHER DAY! BUT YOU JUST-! WON'T-! STAY-! DOWN!!" she finally just grabbed hold of Izuku's throat with two hands, her clawed fingers digging right into the skin as she raised the boy off the ground. "But very well... very- very- VERY- VERY BLOODY WELL!! I'LL JUST END YOUR MISERABLE LIFE FIRST IF YOU ARE THAT KEEN TO THROW IT AWAY!!"

Spadamon squirmed in Izuku's arms, craning his neck- "Let... go of Izuku-!!" so he could bite down on Exermon's outstretched arm.

The other Digimon flinched, but her grasp on Izuku's throat didn't lessen the least. "You-!!!" she venomously spat you, her extra pair of hands grabbing Spadamon to pull him off of her, "Let! Go! Of me!!" she wrenched the lion off of her, but Spadamon still clung to Izuku for dear life.

Unfortunately he couldn't hold on to that grip forever, and Exermon slowly managed to drag Spadamon down, even as the lion tried despertaely to remain clinging to Izuku's shirt. Once he lost his grip, he tried to grab on again to anything; his paws found the Digivice on Izuku's waist, which unclasped immediately, allowing Exermon to just slam Spadamon into the ground, and slam a foot on his back, followed by a swift kick to send him flying away.

Spadamon tumbled and rolled, coming to a stop in the dirt as he grasped the Digivice. His eyes opened, and all he saw was Exermon slowly choke the life out of Izuku, electricity crackling out of her hands, torturing the boy as he desperately tried to scream, but the Digimon's hands around his throat wouldn't let him. Saiko and Bakomon had already turned around to try and save him, but they wouldn't reach him in time.

He was the only one who could've saved Izuku.

Izuku, who'd trusted him.

Who he'd failed.

Spadamon could only stare helplessly, tears flooding his eyes as his entire body screamed out in pain. He tried to call Izuku's name; tried to apologize to him; tried to tell him he was wrong... but no sound came out of his throat.

It was all his fault.

It had been from the very beginning.

Izuku shouldn't have apologized; he was the one with the problem.

"S-...S-Spadamon..."

He realized that now.

"D-Digivolve.... D-Digivolve...!!"

With tears running down his eyes, he knew he was powerless.

"Digivolve...! Digivolve...!!"

He swung the Digivice, striking it against the ground.

"Come on-!! Digivolve!! Digivolve, PLEASE!!"

In the end, he was just useless...

"Digivolve! Digivolve... Digivolve!!"

Useless. Useless. Useless. Useless. Useless.

"Digi- Digivolve! Digivolve! D-Digivooolve!!"

USELESSUSELESSUSELESSUSELESSUSELESSUSELESSUSELESSUSELESSUSELESS!!

"DIGIVOLVE!!!"

And then, a flash of light. It erupted from the Digivice with such intensity that it immediately caught the attention of Exermon.

"W-What....!?" she cried out, seeing the holy light emanating from Spadamon.

Saiko and Bakomon also slid to a halt, staring at the familiar light. "Spadamon's evolving!" Saiko cheered.

"He's really-... no... n-no, s-something's wrong!" Bakomon cried out, much to Saiko's confusion.

The brilliant and warm light would not last for very long, as soon, it would be as if it the brightness was somehow sucked away from it. In its wake, it was as if pure darkness was somehow spreading like fire, stretching out in sharp tendrils that snapped wildly at the air. The total absence of any light made staring into it like staring into a dark, bottomless hole that somehow twisted and squirmed.

"This... this is..." Exermon's eyes widened as she took a step back. "Dark Energy...!?"

In her hands, Izuku could only barely open his eyes, and stare off into the distance where the mass of pure darkness had gathered. "S-...Spada...mon..."

The dark light soon began collapsing onto itself, fully surrounding the young lion that lay in its center. At first, he felt power surging through his power, the power he so desperately craved, the power he needed to save Izuku... but then, he felt it burn. He felt it pierce. Dig into his flesh and melt away at his insides.

Spadamon screamed. He screamed in pain, in fear, in fury.

The lion's small form soon began to grow, his white fur dyed a hazy black as it grew out into an untamed mane. His body turned purple, the skin rotting and peeling, held together by stitches, the bones beneath the flesh hardening and growing outwards as two large spikes that emerged from his shoulders, his arms growing more and more muscular and unnaturally long. Several belts wrapped around his hands and forearms, while metal plates seemed to be welded onto the backs of his enlarged hands, where powerful claws now resided at the end of thick fingers. Beady red eyes glared from beneath the wild black mane, as the gruesome distortion of a lion let out a low, grumbling growl...

Before letting out a migthy roar that shook everyone, human, Gabumon, or Kuwagamon alike, down to their very core.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

MadLeomon

Level IV

Type: Undead

Attribute: Wrathful

A berserker Digimon whose combat instincts have been strengthened at the cost of its reasoning. Its consciousness is all but gone from its body, leaving it a husk that cares only for the destruction of anything that stands in its way. A Digimon with no fear or self-preservational instincts, it keeps charging ahead regardless of whatever injury it sustains. Its Special Move, Fallen Fist Of The Beast King, launches a toxic lion-shaped energy blast that corrodes anything it touches!

---

Itsuka looked over in horror, seeing the mangled form of MadLeomon standing in the village's center. "Is... is that...?"

"Spada-kun Digivolved!" Camie cheered initially, but quickly realized- "But... he looks different...?"

"I don't like the looks of this..." Kyouka said.

"It's still Spadamon, right?" Mina asked, "Maybe this is some... secret super-duper evolution!"

"Mhh..." Yui grunted uncomfortably, clearly sharing in Kyouka's pessimism.

For a brief moment, the entire village grew silent. Nobody seemed to dare make a move, and risk drawing attention from the giant beast that now stood at the center of the conflict, its breath ragged and hoarse, its body shivering slightly as if in constant pain.

Exermon's eyes narrowed as she studied MadLeomon from the relatively-safe distance she was in. She didn't know what had just happened; this didn't resemble any evolution she had ever witnessed, but that only meant it could be even more trouble. She glanced aside a her Kuwagamon, her antennae glowing faintly as she used her Insec Mind psychic power to silently pass along her instructions. This beast had to go.

The Kuwagamon obeyed, two of them ignoring the battles they were having against Airdramon and Dobermon, and breaking the dead silence with powerful howls of their own. One of the Kuwagamon charged from the ground, while the other dove onto MadLeomon from the air. The attacks finally seemed to snap the undead lion out of his quiet trance, as MadLeomon let out another violent roar.

He swung a powerful arm, easily swatting the Kuwagamon off the air and sending it crashing into the ground, before immediately spinning around and grabbing hold of the charging Kuwagamon by grabbing its head with just one hand. With a heavy heave, MadLeomon raised the giant Insect off the ground with one arm, before slamming it back down with a chokeslam that cracked the very earth beneath them.

When the first Kuwagamon stood back up, MadLeomon wasted little in lunging towards it again, digging his claws into the Insect's carapace, and lifting the Digimon right over his head with both his hands. MadLeomon let out another blood-curling roar, before throwing the Kuwagamon into a cluster of Hagurumon and Gabumon, who all thankfully managed to scramble out of the way before being crushed by the large bug.

"Kill it! KILL IT NOW!" Exermon ordered, urging the other Kuwagamon to face down MadLeomon and charge straight towards him. But the results weren't much different, MadLeomon simply swatting aside, throwing, or brutalizing each Kuwagamon that came his way.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Meramon shouted, "Don't go leaving us outta the fun!" the burning Digimon charged ahead, chasing after a Kuwagamon before it could reach MadLeomon.

"MERAMON!"

Hearing Yui's scream alerted the Digimon just in time, as he saw MadLeomon's fist be engulfed in a sickly purple energy, as he launched out a lion-shaped energy blast in Meramon's direction. Meramon just narrowly jumped to the side, avoiding the Fallen Fist attack. "H-Hey, what's the big idea! I'm on your side, remember!?"

All he received in response was another deafening roar by the Undead lion. The only reason MadLeomon hadn't pounced on Meramon was because a Kuwagamon had just jumped onto his back, trying to clamp its pincers around MadLeomon's neck. Furious, the lion thrashed wildly to throw the Kuwagamon off of himself, before turning around as his hand burned with that noxious energy again, and MadLeomon's hand pierced straight through the Kuwagamon's torso, coming out the other side. The Insect Digimon let out a pitiful last wail, before its body went limp, dead by MadLeomon's hand. Not shortly after, the Kuwagamon's body seemed to quickly begin disintegrating into a black dust that billowed up into the air like smoke.

The mad lion didn't give it any thought however, simply throwing aside the other Digimon's corpse before throwing himself at the other Kuwagamon to continue his rampage.

Exermon quickly grew more and more anxious just being in the vicinity of such a monster; so much so that she didn't even notice the rolls of duct tape sent in the way of the boy she still held, until Izuku was pryed off her grasp by Bakomon, and reeled in closer to him and Saiko. "You-!" Exermon stepped forward to give chase, but as the ground shook from another violent attack by MadLeomon, she was forced to weigh her options. She aimed a glare over at Saiko, already having made her choice. "Consider this a win, if it will help you feel better about yourself..." Saiko could practically feel the smug grin on Exermon's face, "However long you may have left with that thing running around!" Exermon then turned tail and ran off, quickly making her escape.

"Ah-! She's making her escape!" Bakomon shouted.

"Leave her!" Saiko ordered. "We've got bigger problems to deal with!" she looked back at the carnage that ensued in MadLeomon's path; everywhere she looked, another Kuwagamon either lay wounded, or another was just in the process of being thrown around. Several of the Kuwagamon were already retreating, alongside many of the Hagurumon, but that meant that MadLeomon's rage was now being focused on those he once called his allies.

"Spadamon, get a hold of yourself!" Kabukimon shouted as she dodged another Fallen Fist blast. "We are your brothers in arms!"

Nanimon jumped behind MadLeomon, tucking his arms underneat the lion's to hold him in a full nelson. "Yeah, man! This ain't like you! You've got too much adrenaline goin' through ya! It ain't healthy to- WOAH!" only for the berserker to throw him off, and send him tumbling towards Dobermon. Airdramon soon descended on the mad lion, trying to use her serpentine body to wrap around him and keep him from harming any further allies, but the rampaging beast just grabbed the dragon by the head and slammed her to the floor, stomping down on her with his foot, before launching another Fallen Fist towards an approaching Meramon.

"H-...He's just one Digimon... and yet, he's this powerful...!" Saiko muttered, her voice trembling out of growing dread. "This-...Th-This is too much... I didn't plan for this- I couldn't-! I couldn't...!"

"Intelli-san, we have to do something!" Bakomon tried in vain to snap Saiko out of it.

"I-It's hopeless..." she repeated, taking an immediate note of how the other Digimon's moves were only getting more and more sluggish. "Everyone is far too tired... maybe- maybe if it was the beginning of the battle, but... no, not like this... not like this...!"

"Intelli-san...!" Bakomon could only stare as his partner seemed to babble in a panic. He grabbed her, shaking her to try and snap her out of it. "Intelli-san! Intelli-san, snap out of it! We need a plan! We need-"

"DIDN'T I JUST TELL YOU IT'S HOPELESS!?" Saiko snapped. "You- You wouldn't understand...! There's just nothing we can do! Spadamon's too powerful! The best we can do is run! Run and try to save as many as we possibly ca-"

Saiko was interrupted as a stiff breeze suddenly dashed past her. It didn't take long before her and Bakomon realized that breeze had a name, as the wounded boy that had been lying on the ground beside them was now gone.

"SPADAMOOOOOON!!!" Izuku's cry echoed through the air as he launched himself directly towards the berserker lion. He slammed hard against MadLeomon, actually forcing the Digimon to stumble back with the tackle he'd given him. "I told you... that I'd work ten times as hard to be your partner, didn't I!?" he twisted his body in midair, swinging a powerful kick to strike MadLeomon on the cheek.

The monster let out a roar, swatting Izuku off the air immediately after. When Izuku landed on the floor, the Undead lion started chasing after him, until all of the other Digimon dogpiled onto him to keep him in place.

"Izuku-san, you must escape!" shouted Dobermon as he grabbed hold of MadLeomon's leg with his mouth.

"Take Itsuka and the others away from here!" begged Airdramon as she coiled around MadLeomon's neck.

"We'll hold off this bronco as long as we can! Now, move!" Nanimon shouted as he held MadLeomon's arm.

"S-Such strength...! I can hardly hold him!" Kabukimon fearfully said as she grabbed on the same arm as Nanimon.

"What is this guy!? He's crazy strong...!" Meramon strained as he held Leomon's other arm.

Izuku flinched as MadLeomon let out another vicious roar, and for a brief moment, he felt his resolve weakening. Until he looked beside him, spotting his Digivice on the ground nearby. He snatched it right away, looking at its screen as the cries of the other humans and Digimon begging him to run away faded into the distance.

Just as he thought... there were no bars left.

Painfully, Izuku forced himself back on his feet, ignoring how weak his legs felt.

"S-...Spadamon... you said... you should look like a warrior..."

Even as the screams begged him to turn back, Izuku instead stepped forward.

"Whatever it is you've become... this isn't what you wanted... I know that!" Izuku shouted. "And being a partner... isn't just about fighting side by side with you! It's about helping you become the best version of you! The version you've always dreamed of being! THAT MEANS BRINGING YOU BACK UP WHEN YOU FALL DOWN!"

He faced the roaring beast down, aiming the Digivice up at him.

"SPADAMON! Whether you want me or not... I'M YOUR PARTNER! AND I'LL HELP YOU BECOME THE HERO YOU WANT TO BE!"

And from the Holy Device, the bright light shone again. Pure and warm, it glowed bright like a star, washing over the fearful beast. Slowly, the Chosen Digimon felt MadLeomon's strength wane, the berserker stopping its mad thrashing and howling. Its body began billowing smoke, as soon, the dark power inside of him began dissipating. MadLeomon's body shone with that heavenly glow, and began shrinking...

Soon, MadLeomon's terrifying form was gone, replaced with a small, unconscious creature shaped like a cat's head, with yellow fur and purple stripes running down its tail. Spadamon was unrecognizable in this weaker form, but Izuku could tell straight away it was him.

His legs moved faster than he thought was possible. Izuku dropped to his knees as soon as he got close to the small kitten, scooping him up in his arms, and hugging him close.

The other humans and the Gabumon quickly rushed over, just glad to see the chaos was finally over.

Only to immediately cry out for Izuku's name again, as the boy suddenly collapsed, still holding his unconscious partner in his arms...

Chapter Text

The bright Sun crossed its highest peak, but even beneath the clear Summer sky, there was a heavy cloud weighing down on Gabumon Village.

They may have won the battle, but the war was not yet over, and this brought about complications. Many of the Gabumon, who had so valiantly defended their homes, were now having second thoughts; they had hoped that Miss Black would have been defeated in full as the human Intelli Saiko had promised them, but the enemy general had managed to escape along with many of her troops. Their early elation quickly turned to paranoia, and for a few, regret as they were now left to stew on what Miss Black's terrible vengeance upon them would be.

But there was more than that, and Itsuka could see it just by the glances the Gabumon gave, and the brief whispers she'd hear here and there. After how the battle had ended, it seemed like some of the Gabumon had begun doubting the humans, and Itsuka couldn't exactly blame them after what they had witnessed.

She was helping out with some of the reconstructions around the village, mainly just to give herself something to do and distract herself. And yet, even she couldn't help but spare a glance over at BlackGabumon's hut, and wonder about the boy and his Digimon inside, always out of concern first... but then her mind went back to the image of that black lion, and she couldn't help but feel dread seep into her thoughts.

"Itsuka...?"

The girl blinked, looking down at Dracomon. "Huh?"

"Are you OK?"

"Ah... yes, I'm fine, Dracomon. I just spaced out for a moment there; sorry about that." she gave Dracomon a comforting smile, the little dragon cheerfully smiling back at her. But even as Itsuka looked down at Dracomon's innocent face, the thought crossed her mind. It was brief, extremely so, not even lasting for one second. She saw the black lion again. And in that instant, she wondered if Dracomon would also-

"Hey, Kendou!" called Kyouka, "Come lend us a hand with this!

Itsuka was snapped out of her thoughts again as she heard Kyouka call to her. "Ah-! Of course! Right away!" and she ran over to where her, Yui and a few Gabumon were handling some heavy-duty ropes, tying them up around thick wooden stakes. The giant red bugs would growl and squirm as they were bound by the ropes, which while they weren't perfect, the thick ropes were the only way Gabumon Village really had to keep the fearsome beasts from going on another rampage.

"And that makes five." Kyouka sighed as they strapped down the last of the Kuwagamon.

"If nothing else, at least we've got less of these things to worry about." Neemon commented. "And that's never a bad thing."

"Certainly feels nice to have the numbers more in our favor..." Kyouka agreed, but she couldn't help but look at Itsuka with some concern. Out of the eleven Kuwagamon that attacked the village, only five managed to leave. Five of those that hadn't were being held here, but the sixth one had met with a rather gruesome fate, and this wasn't the first time Kyouka had caught Itsuka staring at the spot where the insect had, well... died.

It was a rather strange thing to think about. Kyouka wasn't exactly one to shed a tear of a dead bug, even a grossly oversized one, but that thing was still considered one of these Digimon, right? Most of them seemed sapient, no different than a human in how they act, while others like the Kuwagamon and Saberdramon seemed more feral in their behavior. So what exactly was the line here? Is there even a distinction between them? Were Digimon even animals to begin with? Once everything was settled, the Kuwagamon's body had simply vanished into dust; that wasn't normal behavior for most creatures, she could say that much with certainty. Everything about the Digimon only raised more and more questions...

"You seem troubled, Chosen Ones." BlackGabumon said as he approached, quickly piecing together just what it was they were looking at. "It's sad that it must happen, but such are the realities of war. Even the death of an enemy can weigh heavily on one's mind."

Itsuka couldn't quite hide the crestfallen look on her face anymore. "I know it's always a risk, but... the idea that these Kuwagamon might just be- I don't know, manipulated or controlled by Miss Black somehow..."

"Well, none of them have those bug thingies on them, so..." Neemon shrugged his shoulders. "Kuwagamon aren't usually very smart, and just kinda follow whoever's the strongest."

"I still don't think that makes it OK that one of them died." Itsuka sighed.

"Hey, when you play by survival of the fittest, that's just the rules of the game." Neemon said, decisively more flippantly.

Itsuka clearly gained a bit of a harsher look on her face at Neemon's attitude. "How can you say something like that?"

"What, you think these big lugs would just take a timeout to discuss the finer moral details about whether they should kill us?" Neemon asked with a raised eyebrow, "Of course not! They'd have us for breakfast, and not think about it! I don't know how it is back in Yes Bread, but out here, you gotta be prepared, man!"

Neemon's comments were clearly striking a nerve with Itsuka, even as she tried to hold herself back and admit that he had a point, that it was unfair for her to try and place her own moral value on such an alien land. She just took in a deep breath, and looked over at the village elder, weakly asking: "BlackGabumon-san, is that true...?"

The old Digimon hummed with a weary look in his eyes before nodding. "I'm afraid it is. And even so, you will find many of the inhabitants of these islands to be refugees looking to escape an even harsher world beyond the ocean. Before the arrival of the Chroma Army, we could be considered to be quite fortunate in our relative peace."

"Digimon like Tsuchidarumon and Gaogamon make sure to try and protect the little guy as much as they can, but not every place can be so lucky." Neemon added, "And in that case, you gotta be ready to do whatever you can to survive."

Itsuka only looked more dejected, even thought she knew that logically, she couldn't have expected to have found some sort of utopia. Still, to hear it being spoken of so matter-of-factly made her very uncomfortable, especially for the sake of their partner Digimon; to think they had to grow up in such conditions just made her chest feel tighter. Dracomon clearly felt her partner's uneasy, tugging lightly at her pants to try and offer her a comforting smile. Itsuka smiled back, but she couldn't say her heart was fully in it just yet.

Kyouka couldn't quite pinpoint how she felt about any of this either, but she wasn't feeling quite as affected by it as Itsuka was, allowing her to focus her attention towards one of her many questions. "What happened to the Kuwagamon, anyway? Is it something the Chroma Army did to it that made it disappear like that?"

BlackGabumon shook his head. "No, nothing like that. All Digimon meet such a fate eventually, our bodies fading away when our time has come."

"Then... what happens next?" Kyouka asked, despite feeling like it was a stupid question as soon as it left her mouth.

"That is one of the great questions of life, I'm afraid." BlackGabumon gave the answer she pretty much expected. "There are as many different beliefs as there are Digimon. Some believe our bodies disappear so that our core essence can then travel to the afterlife and be judged according to our actions. Others believe that everything that composes a Digimon is scattered, and becomes one with the very world we live in. And there are those still who believe that a Digimon who has led a good life, and developed strong attachments to others, may be reborn after their death through the power of those bonds."

Given how these strange creatures held such unique powers, even in a world where Quirks were a thing, Itsuka had almost thought for a second that they could've had a more firm idea of what happened to them after death, but it certainly made sense that Digimon were just as much in the dark about what happened as humans were, and tried to come up with their own theories and beliefs.

"Dracomon will definitely come back to Itsuka if she dies! No doubt!" the little dragon cheered, although Itsuka just looked a bit perturbed.

"D-Don't talk like that!" Itsuka said, maybe a bit more harshly than she had intended, as she quickly felt guilty over making Dracomon flinch. "I'm sorry... I appreciate the sentiment, Dracomon-chan, but I just... don't want to think about you dying any time soon, alright?"

The dragon blinked, but quickly nodded with another big smile. "Alright, Itsuka! Dracomon won't die then! She'll just keep growing stronger and stronger to make sure of that!"

"Y'know, another good way of not dying is to just steer clear from any danger." Neemon added, "Just sayin'..."

Kyouka looked over at him with a blank expression. "Why is it you're way more daring as a balding old guy who throws poop?"

"I feel pressured to act cool when I have the sunglasses on." Neemon shrugged.

This actually earned a light snicker from Kyouka, but when she opened her mouth to comment, someone walking briskly right past them caught her eye. She blinked, seeing Camie stride like a woman on a mission. "Well, someone looks annoyed..."

"Even an angry Camie-chan still looks angelic, though!" Neemon cheerfully commented, "Some girls I know of look like ogres when they-GNYEH!" he immediately got a jack stuck to his neck before he could even finish.

Itsuka watched with a light frown. "It's very unlike Utsushimi-senpai to look that incensed. I hope everything's alright..." she tried to look over to where Camie might be heading, realizing that in that direction was BlackGabumon's hut. Izuku was inside, but outside sat-

"What 'cha doin', Intelli-san?" asked Mina as she saw Saiko typing away at the laptop they'd gotten off of the enemy. Since Miss Black already knew they were there, there wasn't much of a point in keeping the fake footage running, so they could hopefully use it to some advantage.

"The Hagurumon we captured isn't talking, so I'm trying to find any information I can on Miss Black's base, and plan accordingly." Saiko explained as she adjusted the glasses over her nose, "A helpful map might be too much to ask for, but there's a few files in this computer with orders for the Hagurumon, and they help to paint a picture on what we should expect."

"Oooh, nice!" Mina cheered, "Hear that, Alraumon-chan? You better rest up; we're not done being heroes for one day!"

"OK, Mina-chan" the flower Digimon said.

Next to Saiko, the quiet Yui leaned over to see the laptop, quickly thinking to ask: "Internet...?"

But Saiko shook her head. "That was the first thing I tried. This laptop doesn't even seem to be capable of picking up wireless internet, as far as I can see."

"Wow, that is ooooooold!" Mina said, "I find it hard to believe there was ever even a world without WiFi!"

"A precious relic..." Yui commented, looking at the laptop with a little bit of admiration in her eyes.

"Are you a retro fan, Kodai-chan?" Mina quickly picked up, the other girl nodding her head affirmatively, a faint blush crossing her cheeks, which got Mina to giggle. "Hey, I get ya! I've been told I can have a very retro style for fashion! Dunno a thing about old technology though."

Candmon looked between the two girls. "Retro? What's that?"

"It means old stuff, Candmon!" Alraumon said, "Seems pretty obvious just by how they're speaking."

"Oh, it's not just 'old' stuff, Alraumon-chan! Retro is, like... hmm, how to put this..." Mina tapped her chin, "A thing has to be old, sure, but there's also a certain aesthetic to it too that makes something look way cool! So, like, if you can replicate that aesthetic, even something brand new can still look retro!"

"So... you purposefully make new stuff look old?" Alraumon asked.

"Pretty much!" Mina nodded, then pointed over to the other Digimon, "Anything can be retro! Even Candmon's pretty retro!"

"I am?"

"Yeah! Your, uhh... well, your candle holder! It's pretty retro! Well... I guess that would be more classical than necessarily retro, which is an even older style than retro, but..."

Alraumon quickly grabbed her head. "I'm so confused!"

"Ladies, please-!" Saiko interjected, "I am trying to focus on something actually important here!" the other girls flinched, muttering an apology and letting Saiko get back to work.

"Intelli-san, here's your tea!"

"Ah, thank you." Saiko quickly took the small cup handed to her by Bakomon, preparing to give another look through all the files with the added benefit of her Quirk.

"Oh, hey, Utsu-senpai!" Mina waved as Camie approached, Labramon following behind her.

The other girl only really acknowledge Mina for a second out of common courtesy, because her mind was very focused on speaking to someone else. "Saiko-chan!"

Saiko flinched a bit, clearly not very happy with Camie's forward familiarity, but letting it slide. "Yes? May I help you?"

"Well, like, I was hoping so?" Camie said, albeit with obvious sarcasm, "But I can think of a few Digimon who need our help, like, right now!?"

"What are you-" Saiko stopped, realizing what she meant. "Oh, right... The Psychemon."

This only made Camie bristle more. "What do you mean 'oh, right'!? Is that, like, really the best thing you can think to say!? We left those poor guys all alone because you said it was best to wait, and take down Miss Black first, remember!? Well, she's still out there, and she knows we'll come after her, so, like, shouldn't we be storming at their gates or something as soon as possible!?"

Saiko sighed, already looking a bit annoyed. "Normally I would agree with the idea of striking while the iron is hot, but the problem is that our Digimon are still quite drained from this morning. If we give chase to Miss Black, we'll only be acting carelessly; it's better for us to wait, and attack when our strengths are at their fullest."

"So we'll just let those Psychemon all alone with Miss Black, who might now realize we'll be coming for them? Can you even imagine what she might do to them while we sit here doing nothing!?"

The other girl flinched a bit with a frown, having to concede the point that, for all they knew, Miss Black could be setting up her hostages for some sort of trap, or worse, just doing away with them altogether to make sure they never got to rescue them. "...it's unfortunate, but we won't exactly be of much help to anyone if we rush in half-cocked either. The best course of action is still-"

"Are you serious with me right now!?"

Everyone flinched as Camie's voice raised with very clear anger for the first time they'd heard since they met.

"Are you just- Seriously!? You're gonna tell us to just abandon them like that!?"

Saiko blinked, still thrown off by Camie's sudden outburst. "I-I said no such thing! I said we ought to wait, and-"

"And just leave them at Miss Black's mercy, right!?" Camie fumed.

"U-...Utsushimi-kun, I realize it's not the best outcome, but we have to keep our own safety in mind just as much as everyone else's! If we try to fight Miss Black while unprepared, then our Digimon could find themselves growing too tired to maintain their evolved states!"

"Then we'll fight when they can't!" Camie threw back, again blindsiding Saiko.

"W-... Are you mad!? Even if our Quirks were at their full power, we could hardly stand up against-"

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do!" Saiko growled, her frustration quickly growing. "Utsushimi-kun, I assure you, I've taken everything into account before and during our battle, as well as our previous encounters with these creatures; we are far outclassed by them in terms of sheer power!"

"That doesn't mean there's nothing we can do!" Camie's voice only raised, which got Labramon more concerned.

"Camie, maybe we should-"

"Like, you're acting like the only way to rescue someone is by beating up the bad guys!" Camie continued despite Labramon's best attempt, "But we just have to get the Psychemon out of there!"

"And if there was a safe way of doing so, then I would gladly take it!" Saiko firmly said, trying to keep her composure.

"Who cares about what's safe!? Shouldn't we be doing what's right!?" Camie shouted again. "What kind of Hero are you!?"

This got Mina to flinch, sharply inhaling through her teeth, and even Yui jolted a bit with a slight hiccup, as both girls could notice the change in the air around Saiko. There was no doubt that Camie had hit a sore spot, as the older girl stood up from her seat to glare down at Camie right in the eyes.

"I'm the type of Hero who doesn't want any utterly unavoidable deaths to happen. On either side." she firmly said. "If Shiketsu is teaching you lot suicidal stupidity as a replacement for effective heroism, then I seriously question its status as a school equal to UA."

Camie's own glare only intensified in anger. "Suic- Why you-...!!" she took a step forward, and the way she began to raise her arm quickly alerted Mina to jump between the two girl and gently but firmly try and push them apart.

"O-OK, people! Lots'a hot heads going on; maybe we oughtta take a deep breath, and relax before we say or do anything else we might regret, alright?"

As the argument heated up, Itsuka, Kyouka and their partners approached. "Wow, what's going on here?" Kyouka asked, "Looks like everyone's ready to throw down over something."

"Could this be... the legendary 'cat fight' I've heard so much about!?" Neemon wondered, much to Kyouka's annoyance.

"Utsushimi-senpai, Intelli-senpai, is this really the right time to be acting this way?" Itsuka asked, which only got Saiko to huff.

"You can ask that to her!" she motioned at Camie, "I was doing just fine planning out our next move, before she waltzed up to me and started throwing ridiculous accusations in my face!"

Camie clicked her tongue. "Well, excuse me for wanting to save a bunch of innocent Digimon as soon as possible!"

"Are you implying I don't want the same!?" Saiko quickly barked back.

"Maybe if you actually acted like you did!"

"How dare you-!?"

With the argument quickly picking back up, the others girls and the Digimon tried their best to calm the situation down, but despite their efforts, it simply spiraled further into louder words, until finally-

"HEY!"

Everyone stopped as they heard Psychemon call out from the entrance to the hut.

"You guys mind? We've got some wounded who're trying to rest." she huffed, the girls quickly showing remorseful and apologizing.

"I'm really sorry, Psyche-chan..." Camie said, "It was my fault. I, like, totally lost myself there..."

The Digimon didn't seem too upset, just nodding her head as the situation quickly defused. "That's fine, just try to keep your voices down, is all."

"Psychemon, if it's not out of line of me to ask..." Itsuka stepped up, "How are you feeling...?"

She blinked, reaching up to rub at her head as she thought about it. "Well... Miss Black got away from us, so I'm feeling pretty frustrated, obviously. And like y'all said, there's no telling what she might do to my village now, so I'm pretty scared for all of them too..." this clearly sent a twinge of guilt through everyone, but Psychemon was quick to offer them a reassuring smile, "But, for what it's worth, it's not like I blame ya guys or anything. I know you're trying to help, and that whatever it was that happened back there was out of your control. Really, just the fact you guys still want to help, even though you barely know me or anyone else, is more than I could ever ask for."

This did help to bolster everyone's spirits a little, Saiko quickly stepping up with a determined look on her face. "You have my word, Miss Black won't get so lucky a second time. We'll make sure she's brought done for good."

Psychemon sighed and nodded. "Thank you. But, of course, I'll be there to make sure of that too!" she added with a grin, "You're not going after her without me!"

"We'll take all the help we can get." Saiko nodded.

"When... do we leave...?"

Everyone jolted as they heard the tired voice, Izuku now standing by the hut's entrance behind Psychemon.

"M-Midoriya!"

"Dude, what the heck are you doing up!" Mina said, "You got shocked, like, a billion times!"

"I-It was only about... five, I think...?" Izuku tried to joke, but it didn't quite work to get the others to stop worrying about him. "I-I'm fine, really! Just a bit sore, but it'll wear off! Psychemon-san's medicine is almost as good as Recovery Girl's Quirk!"

"Well that medicine still requires a lot of rest to work!" Psychemon quickly started pushing him back inside the hut, "So get your butt back in bed!"

"I-I will! I will! Just-" he tried to plead to the others, "Just warn me when it's time to go, alright?"

"Not if you still look like a mess, I won't!" Saiko quickly said, "We'll be looking to leave as soon as possible; I sincerely doubt you'll be fully healed by then, in which case, it's in everyone's best interest you stay here."

Izuku flinched at this. "B-But you said yourself, Intelli-senpai! You'll need all the help you can get, and I can help!"

"Spadamon..." Yui pointed out, Itsuka following along with a nod.

"Kodai-san has a point. Even if you would be fine, what about Spad- ah, I guess he's Nyaromon now... Would you leave him behind?"

This got Izuku's determination to falter considerably. "I-... No, I wouldn't..."

"Izu-kun, please just take your time and rest up, OK? We all, like, want to see you back in top shape!" Camie said with a gentle smile, quickly getting the boy to blush.

"Yeah, just leave it to us." Kyouka said.

"There's still plenty of us, so don't sell us too short!" said Alraumon with plenty of confidence.

"We'll make sure to protect everyone, Izuku." Labramon said.

"Yeah, yeah! We'll POW! Blow away all the bad guys who try to hurt Yui and her friends!" Candmon jumped.

"Yeah! POW! POW!" Dracomon echoed.

"I wouldn't mind staying behind with Nyaromon." Neemon bluntly said, "We can switch places. I can even lend you my long-johns."

Kyouka quickly grimaced at this. "You're going, and that's that. Also, gross."

"C'mon, Neemon, we need you for the WHAM! And BOOM! And all that stuff!" Candmon cheered on his fellow Digimon, who didn't look any more invigorated by his words.

"I trust in Intelli-san's ability to see us through, no matter the odds!" Bakomon confidently said.

Izuku still looked visibly apprehensive about the possibility of him having to sit in the sidelines while everyone else risked their lives against Miss Black, but he kept whatever thoughts he might have had for himself this time, getting shoved back into the hut by Psychemon.

"So..." Kyouka then spoke up, "Do we actually have a plan, Bossman?" she asked while looking at Saiko.

She didn't answer right away, taking her seat again to look at the laptop. "Not yet, no."

"But soon, right, Intelli-san?" Bakomon said.

"Of course!" Saiko replied more confidently, picking up her tea again. "I'm not concerned about coming up with a plan. What worries me is that Miss Black will surely have something waiting for us..."

A loud crash was heard.

"STUPID-"

And again.

"INSIGNIFICANT-"

And again and again and again.

"LOUSY-! IMPUDENT-! UNRULY-! SWINES!!!"

Exermon threw the chair across the room, before giving the utterly wrecked console she'd been wailing one one last kick, just for good measure. She loudly inhaled and exhaled out of pure rage, not even caring for the Hagurumon who floated nearby, patiently awaiting his orders. "...report." she finally ordered.

Dutifully, Hagurumon answered: "Our Kuwagamon forces have been lowered to five. Our Hagurumon forces were scattered; ten of them returned right away to base, with another seven finding their way back after getting separated; the rest fled into the forest and have yet to return. My advice is to proceed with the assumption they will not be returning."

Exermon let out a frustrated growl, delivering a powerful punch against the metal wall to carve a large dent onto it. And is if this day simply could not get any worse for her-

"Ooh-ho-ho! Someone's been having a rough day, haven't they~?"

Her eye twitched rapidly, before she slowly turned her head towards the flashing monitor. The reflection shimmered, revealing a strange triangular figure, his metallic body shining green except for the red tip of his pointy head; a thin mirror sat on his stomach, along with two other circular shield-like mirrors on both of his forearms; finally, a neatly-polished mirror served as his eyeless, noseless face, only a pair of full lips giving the face any semblance of an identity. Exermon let out a sigh, as this was the last thing she needed right now.

She quietly growled: "Mister Green..."

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Mercuremon

Level IV

Type: Mutation

Attribute: Harmonious

An aristocratic Digimon who obsesses over everything being done its way. This highly intelligent steel-clad warrior plots out its strategies to the utmost detail, and won't hesitate to explain its own brilliance even towards its own enemies. Its special move, Offset Reflector, reflects most attacks back towards its foes!

---

"To what do I owe the pleasure-" her eye twitched, "Of your call?"

"Let's just say a little birdie told me of your recent... ah, let's be generous and call it a 'mishap' against the Chosen Ones."

Exermon's hands balled into such tightly-clenched fists, she could've drawn blood. "...a minor setback, I assure you."

"Oh, I'm sure, I'm sure~!" Mercuremon chuckled, "Still, these Chosen Ones sure are full of surprises. It's really no wonder Mister Gray wishes them gone before they can interfere any further."

"...about that..." Exermon wondered, "One of the Chosen said something... that 'helping others' was something they all wanted to do..."

"Hm? So?" Mercuremon apathetically asked.

"Well... isn't that a strange thing for them to say?"

Mercuremon only chuckled. "My, my... Sometimes it's easy to forget you are still quite young and naive! It's cute, it really is~!" he chuckled again as Exermon visibly grew frustrated but said nothing. "Don't be swayed by empty words. There will always be those who wear the face of angels, while they sharpen their claws behind their backs. Never forget this, Miss Black."

Exermon let out an uncomfortable grunt, but still politely bowed her head. "I won't. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare for-"

"Ah-ah-ah! Not so fast!" Mercuremon interrupted, "I have a little present for you~! I've sent some Gear Bugs to your base; I figure you'll have good use for them~"

"Th-This is not necessary!" Exermon argued, noticeably fumed. "Even with our lowered numbers, my men are more than enough to handle this!"

"Aww, it's nice that you have such confidence! But, I'm afraid it's too late; they're already on their way~!" he chuckled. "Come now, Miss Black! We're all in this together after all; don't let your pride stop you from gaining the upper edge! Boss Gray, and myself, expect great things from you in the Chroma Army!" with the, the reflection dispersed, Mercuremon's figure disappearing.

With another infuriated exhale, Exermon swiftly turned around. But she stopped herself before exiting the command room, hearing the quiet rumble coming from her prisoner. "Getting restless? You probably think this will mean your freedom is coming soon, don't you?" she scoffed, but then paused for a moment as she thought. "Well... it may just be your lucky day." she snapped her fingers, and from the vent in the wall, floated down three bug-like machines that hovered near her. She looked back at her prisoner, an evil look appearing in her eyes. "You may just get your freedom earlier than you thought~"

Izuku breathed quietly, his eyes closed as he lay on the makeshift bed inside of the hut. While he seemed to be asleep, he most definitely wasn't, the earlier conversation still rolling around in his mind. He hated this feeling; the feeling of being helpless to help others. He wasn't really sure how much time had passed since he was effectively given a mandatory sick leave; had the others already left to go face off against Miss Black? Would they really leave without telling him? Then again if they did tell him, would he let them leave without him? Maybe the smarter move for them would just be to leave without warning him.

He'd get up and check for himself, but he didn't want to get too far away from the Digimon resting on a basket near his own bed. The tiny cat that Spadamon had transformed into — Nyaromon — rested peacefully after what had happened, his long tail curled up around his head-slash-body. The best they could figure as to what had happened, Spadamon had used up too much energy when transforming into that beastly form, leading him to revert into an earlier, weaker stage. Apparently all the other Digimon had to evolve into their current forms as well, and were originally smaller creatures similar to Nyaromon... The more he learned about what Digimon were able to do, the more questions kept springing up.

But he wasn't thinking about asking any questions right now. He pushed all other thoughts aside, and just wondered what to even say to Nyaromon once he woke up. What would the Digimon even want him to say, if anything? Would he even remember what had happened? If he did, he'd almost surely feel guilty about it, so Izuku would have to assure him it wasn't his fault... although that might come off as hollow, given how Izuku doesn't even know how such a transformation even happened in the first place.

A quiet noise coming from the Digimon snapped Izuku out of his thoughts. Nyaromon hadn't moved much, and while his back was turned to Izuku, he could somehow tell.

"Nyaromon...?" he called, but didn't get a response. "I know you're awake, Nyaromon..."

The small cat let out a quiet groan, before he slowly turned around. He didn't fully face Izuku — he couldn't do that, not after... — but he turned enough that he could glance a look at him.

Izuku smiled in relief, glad to see his partner awake again. "Hey there... How are you feeling?" he asked as he sat up on his bed. "Do you need anything?"

"..."

"There's some water over there, but if you're hungry, I can get you some food too."

"..."

"Or maybe-"

"Stop..." Nyaromon finally said. "Stop acting like I didn't mess everything up..."

Izuku blinked, quickly frowning. "That's not-... That's not what I'm trying to do. It's just that, there's really no point in dwelling on it, right? What happened already happened, and nobody blames you for it, so the best thing to do is-"

"Well maybe they should blame me!" Nyaromon said, Izuku flinching slightly.

"Come on, Nyaromon, everyone knows it wasn't your fault..."

"But it was! Don't you get it!?" Nyaromon fully turned around, facing Izuku with eyes that were quickly growing wet. "I turned into that thing because-! All this time I've been blaming you, when I was the problem! Because I'm- I'm weak, and I couldn't just admit it, and that's why it happened! If I just wasn't so selfish, then-... I'm just so useless...!"

"Nyaromon, please, stop it!" Izuku quickly got out of his bed to kneel down next to the sobbing Digimon. "Even if you're right, and even if you do blame yourself, who cares about one stupid mistake? You're not weak, and you're definitely not useless! You've saved my life before, remember?"

The Digimon glanced back up at Izuku, seeing the boy smile down at him.

"That already makes you a hero, in my eyes. You're just... in-training, that's all! You're supposed to make mistakes, because that's how you grow into a better you. And I still meant what I said; every word of it. I want to help you become the best hero you can be."

"W-Why...? Why do you even want to waste your time with me...?"

"Because I know what you're going through, to some extent." Izuku said. "I've told this story to Neemon before, but... I know what it's like to feel powerless; useless, even. And just as I was at my lowest, someone came along and told me there was still hope for me. They saw that in me, and I guess... I see the same thing in you. I don't want you to give up on your dream, Nyaromon, because I know how much it hurts to do so."

Holding out his hand, Izuku's smile grew more determined.

"So, I want to help you. It may not be the most deep or complex of reasons, but... it's how I feel; simple as that. I'm your partner, right? So let's work together!"

Nyaromon looked Izuku in the eyes, then down at his hand, feeling something stir within him. There were still so many thoughts going on in his head, so much doubt, so much confusion, so much fear... but for a second, a light shone past them. There was a flash, and when it subsided, Spadamon quickly brushed at his tearful eyes, before grabbing Izuku's hand in a firm shake...

"I don't much like this."

"Kinda gotta agree with Psychemon." Kyouka said, "Leaving Midoriya in the dark feels like kind of a jerk move..."

"Look-!" Saiko turned to look at the others, "We all agree they need the rest after what he went through, correct?"

The other girls somewhat reluctantly agreed.

"And if we told him we were leaving, we can all agree they'd do anything in their power to convince us they should come with, correct?"

Another begrudging agreement.

"This was the only way to ensure they stay put, so if you feel bad about it, just suck it up! It's for their own good!" Saiko huffed lightly before continuing down the path to the enemy's base.

"Intelli-senpai has the right idea." Itsuka agreed, much to Saiko's pleasure. "After what Midoriya and Spadamon went through, it's best they stay out of this. Otherwise, who knows what might happen..." her voice trailed off, her mind still traveling over to that gruesome image of the black lion, her brow creasing further at the mere thought of that happening again...

"Labramon, do you smell anything?" asked Saiko.

The dog Digimon took a moment to sniff at the ground, and nodded. "Yes. I can pick up the trace of the Hagurumon. They must have come through here in large numbers."

"No doubt when they made their way to attack the village." Saiko said.

"I also detect something else... soot, I believe." Labramon said, "It's faint, but we are getting closer."

"We should be getting close to the village then, right?" asked Alraumon, Labramon nodding at the possibility.

"We should. I can feel it!" Psychemon agreed, her fists clenching with resolve to save her people.

Saiko stopped her walk and turned around. "Alright then, this is where we break off. Remember the plan, and we'll see this through." she handed over three of the walkie-talkie. "Wait for my signal."

The others nodded and everyone split off into smaller groups, heading in separate directions for the attack...

Miss Black balanced herself expertly on the thin point at the end of her abdomen, her legs crossed as she silently meditated atop the balcony on the half-constructed factory. Even the Kuwagamon were uncharacteristically immobile, as if they could sense the changing of the wind, warning them of the oncoming battle. The Hagurumon dutifully patrolled the remains of Psychemon Village, on the lookout for any possible intruders.

But the quiet tense air around the base would soon be disrupted, an explosion being heard coming from near the edge of the village, smoke billowing towards the sky.

Miss Black immediately opened her eyes, realizing what this meant. "They've arrived!" she raised her antennae which glowed a pale purple, sending out her psychic orders to all of her soldiers. Hagurumon and Kuwagamon alike all marched towards the source of the explosion, Miss Black leaping atop her personal battle steed, ready to do battle with the enemy Digimon... only the closer they got, the more they realized something amiss; the village seemed completely intact (or as intact as they had left it, anyway), and the black smoke had vanished just as quickly as it had came.

A trap...!? Miss Black thought to herself, all of her senses on high alert. She didn't know how they had faked that explosion, but her thoughts did turn to that one girl who could seemingly summon illusions; had they used her to draw their attention, and get the jump on them? As the seconds ticked by however, and no attack came, that possibility quickly dimmed, and a second alternative formed in her mind. No... a diversion?

She glanced back towards the half-built factory, deducing that they likely wanted her away from that place. They are outnumbered; they know this, so their priority would be to bolster their numbers, in which case- "The prisoners-!?" she quickly realized, mentally yelling out her orders to return the way they came. The Pyschemon had been a far more troublesome bunch to deal with than the Gabumon ever were, and would surely join the Chosen Ones' fight should they be freed.

As her troops turned, Miss Black figured this was only a minor setback, until-

"DIGIVOLVE!!"

She immediately turned around, seeing the large black hound leap out from his hiding place, alongside the brightly colored flower. Dobermon launched several dark energy blasts out into her Hagurumon ranks to catch them by surprise, while Kabukimon whipped her hair to summon a blizzard of sakura petals, which washed over the scene to make it that much harder for the enemy forces to strike them back. Soon after, a large shadow descended from above them, Airdramon diving down to slam her hard head against one Kuwagamon, before quickly breathing out a flaming tornado to blast another Kuwagamon. Loud laughter erupted from the chaos, as Meramon charged in and launched himself at another Kuwagamon to keep up the pressure on Miss Black's forces.

Not a trap, nor a diversion; but both!?

Miss Black cursed at herself for stumbling right into that infuriating cocky girl's plans once again. She tried to send out her orders to her panicking soldiers, attempting to regain some control over this mess, but by the time she managed to get her men under control, the petal blizzard had diminished, and somehow, all of the Digimon that had attacked them were gone. Miss Black clicked her tongue, quickly realizing her opponents were relying on guerilla tactics now to make up for their lower numbers. This did tell her the Gabumon weren't aiding them as an army for this attack, but they might very well still be banking on the Psychemon to fill in their ranks. That would be their true goal, and she had to prevent that from happening.

Unfortunately for her, the very moment she began mobilizing her forces, a rain of fireballs would crash down onto her men, followed by that Meramon's annoying laughter. Airdramon also flew in from seemingly nowhere, bombing them with sharp needles of wind to prevent them from moving. Soon enough, Dobermon and Kabukimon would also jump out of their hiding places, an continue to pressure her army into confusion and inaction with their own energy blasts. But such a trick was only going to be very effective once, and one of the Kuwagamon managed to break through the assault, charging at Dobermon and Kabukimon to engage them.

Dobermon met the Kuwagamon head on, slamming his shoulder against its torso to hold the beast back, before biting down on its arm. Kabukimon took the opportunity to swing her hair, unleashing another blizzard of pink petals that quickly started to fill the area. Meramon and Airdramon continued raining down fire  to keep their enemies from dispersing, but one Kuwagamon managed to power through and launch itself against Airdramon with its mighty pincers. The dragon swiftly dodged the attempt at slicing her, and twisted her body to whip the insect back down to the ground with a slam of her tail.

As the petal blizzard thickened, this gave the four Chosen Digimon the time they needed to return to their hiding spots behind any village hut they could find, except for Airdramon who had to fly towards the forest and hide between the trees instead. As the petal storm subsided, it left behind Miss Black's forces only more rattled and confused. The plan was working, but they knew it was only a matter of time before repeated surprise attacks lost their... well, element of surprise.

"Kabukimon! Way to go!" Mina cheered on her partner from her own hiding place nearby, Camie also giving the flowery Digimon a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Mina-chan, but we cannot let our guard down just yet." Kabukimon said.

"There's no telling how much longer we can keep this up, before our tactics lose their effect." Dobermon quietly added from his hiding spot behind a hut.

"Well, we only gotta hold out a little while longer, right?" Camie pointed out, "I'm sure Saiko-chan and the others will have the Psychemon free in no time!"

"Ashido-san, come in!"

Mina quickly picked up the walkie-talkie as soon as she heard Itsuka's voice, who was hiding on the opposite end of the village from where they were with Yui. "Mina here!"

"Still no word from Intelli, so we have to keep this up for as long as we can. Get Dobermon and Kabukimon ready; we'll be doing another attack in a few seconds."

"Roger that, Kendou-kun!" Mina said with a salute, grinning with a light chuckle. "Always wanted to say-"

"Th-This is bad!"

Mina blinked, her and Camie looking over as Kabukimon peered from behind the wall she was hiding under. "What's wrong, Kabukimon?"

"Miss Black..." the Digimon answered, "She's gone!"

"What!?" Mina, Camie, Dobermon, and Itsuka all exclaimed, each trying to get a good look at the battlefield to see if Kabukimon was right. Itsuka had been given the compact telescope, so she was quickly able to confirm it.

"She must've slipped away during the commotion!"

"You think she found us!?" Mina asked, alarmed as she was already looking around herself in search of the enemy Digimon.

"Maybe... not unless she went after-"

Camie's eyes widened. "Saiko-chan!"

Across the village, several cages were dotted on an empty field. Inside these cages were many Psychemon being guarded by a couple of Hagurumon wielding spears.

The explosion was heard even from all the way over there, one of the larger Psychemon grunting at the Hagurumon guards. "Oi! Shouldn't you go check what's up? Your master might be in trouble, y'know?"

The first Hagurumon just scoffed. "You would appreciate that, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah! And then you troublemakers would only try to escape, huh?" the other Hagurumon grunted.

The Psychemon, for his part, just scoffed as he leaned on the bars. "You're smarter than your ugly faces make ya look, I'll give ya that much..."

"Yeah? Well you're every bit as dumb as yours makes you out to be." the second Hagurumon chuckled.

"Hmph... How droll." the erudite Hagurumon scoffed, before prodding at the Psychemon with its spear. "You've had your fun. Settle down, before we start growing weary of listening to you."

The Psychemon remained undaunted, as even the other Psychemon nearby only seemed more bolstered in their defiance. "Pretty big talk, comin' from a fancy dinner plate!"

"Yeah! You can say all ya want out there, can't ya?" another Psychemon taunted.

"If you were to let even one of us outta these cages, I bet you'd be singin' a whole other tune!" a third Psychemon scoffed.

But despite their best attempts, neither Hagurumon seemed rattled by their taunting. "Such a pathetic display... You parochial rustics may succumb to such primitive emotions, but unlike you, we are possessors of much higher decorum."

"Yeah! So you lugs can shove it!" the other Hagurumon snorted.

"Our orders are to guard you, regardless of what happens, and we shall see through with those orders as is befitting a loyal soldier of the Chroma Army."

"Yeah! We ain't going anywhere!"

"Yup! That's right!"

"Most correct. Now if you'll-" the ivory-towerish Hagurumon froze up, realizing the third voice. He looked aside to his partner, who looked back at him with similar confusion. The both then looked behind them, seeing the lanky Neemon standing there with a lazy smile on his face. They then looked at each other again.

"Is that not...?"

"Yeah... I think it is..."

When they looked again, they were instead faced by the larger Nanimon, his arms crossed as he grinned widely at the two gear Digimon.

"Oyaji Punch!!" with a mighty double-uppercut, both Hagurumon were immediately sent flying. As soon as their cries grew faint from the distance, Nanimon quickly jumped and posed as he faced his partners. "Hoo-hah! Did ya see that? If those dweebs were wearin' sandals, I would'a knocked 'em clean off of 'em!"

Kyouka, Saiko, Bakomon and Psychemon quickly approached from the side where they'd been waiting. "Yeah, nice shot." said Kyouka, looking up into the sky where the Hagurumon had been thrown to. "Are you going to make a habit out of launching our enemies into the stratosphere?"

"I dunno!" Nanimon shrugged before flexing his muscles, "As long as it works!"

"Guys! We're gonna bust you out of there!" shouted Psychemon as she approached the cages.

"Ah-! You're alive!" one of the Psychemon cheered.

"Oh, thank goodness!"

"Psychemon! We're so glad to see you're OK!"

"Way to go, girlie! We knew you'd come through!"

Saiko approached the cages as all the Psychemon cheered, clearly growing increasingly rowdy and ready to taste freedom again. "Everyone, we'll have you set free as soon as we can!" she assured the rowdy bunch. Naturally there was no conveniently-placed key lying around; perhaps Miss Black had learned from Mister Red's former blunder. Luckily, they were dealing with a pretty simple and old-fashioned padlock, so improvisation was simple for one such as her! "Psychemon-kun, please come here for a moment."

The Digimon quickly approached, ready and willing to assist in any way she could. "So? How do we get them out of here?"

"These locks seem too sturdy; I doubt we could break them open from the outside." Saiko began to explain.

"What about the hoon over there?" one of the caged Psychemon asked, pointing at Nanimon. "He seems pretty tough."

Saiko knew Nanimon's strength could probably help here, but also that he wasn't necessary, and thus should remain on more important duties. "He needs to stay on the lookout for our enemies, so he can't-"

"How long do you think it'll take before they come down?" Kyouka asked, still staring up into the clouds with Nanimon.

"Five? Maybe seven minutes?" wondered Nanimon. "Depends on the angle, you see."

"H-HEY! Will you clods actually pay attention!?" Saiko bristled before turning back to the Psychemon with a huff. "I-In any case! While the outside may be sturdy, the insides of something generally are far less durable. So, Psychemon-kun, all I need from you-" she pointed at the lock, "Is to stick your horn in there."

Psychemon blinked, a bit confused at first, but very quickly getting the picture. "Oh! I get ya!" she grinned and walked over, doing as she was told and shoving her horn into the keyhole. "Stand back, guys! Colorful Spark!" a shower of sparkling colors erupted from Psychemon's horn, the energy bursting out of the padlock and shattering its insides, forcing it wide open. The door swung wide open, allowing the nine Psychemon inside the cage to come rushing right out, cheering for their saviors.

"Atta girl, Psychemon!" a noticeably larger Psychemon said, "You've done the village proud, ya did!"

"Thank you, Psychemon." she said with a light blush.

"Hyuck hyuck, lookit her, blushin'!" a skinnier Psychemon chuckled, "Spendin' time with those Gabumon didn't go make ya soft on us, did it?"

"L-Like hell it did!" Psychemon shouted back, "Watch your lip, before I wipe it off of ya, Psychemon!"

Saiko quickly clapped her hands to try and get everyone's attention. "E-Everyone, please, I understand you must be quite happy, but if I could get your assistance-"

"Relax, we get the program, sheila." the burlier Psychemon waved. "Come on you drongos; get to work!" and with that order, the rest of the Psychemon mobilized to go blow open the rest of the padlocks keeping their kin behind bars.

Watching over all of this, only one question crossed over Kyouka's mind, asking Nanimon: "How does anyone know who's talking to who in places like this, where they all have the same name?"

The Digimon actually had to pause at this for a moment to think it over. "Uhh... context clues? I dunno, man; sometimes you just know. It's like, instinct or something. You either have it, or you-..." he paused, sensing a sudden chill in the air, before- "WATCH OUT!!"

Kyouka barely had time to shout before Nanimon shoved her away, a dark shadow suddenly appearing in the air next to him, and thrusting four hands against the other Digimon with a shout of: "Defibrilla-shock!"

Nanimon let out a shout as the powerful electrical shock coursed through his body, forcing him down on his hands and knees, Miss Black quickly jabbing her heels onto his back to drive him into the dirt, a disgusted look of anger in her eyes. "Loathsome wretch..."

"It's her!" a Psychemon cried out.

"That's the shrew that gone and locked us up!" another shouted, all of the freed Psychemon facing Miss Black with nothing but hostility on their minds.

Miss Black, for her part, just faced them with a lack of concern, before her sights fell on Saiko. "You... I suppose congratulations are in order; you are certainly the fastest I've grown to detest any single person in my life!" she growled.

"Intelli-san!" Bakomon quickly stood in front of her, "I-I'll protect you!"

Miss Black's eyes narrowed in disgust, but before she could move, she felt Nanimon do so beneath her, forcing her to quickly jump back and dodge his punch as he stood back up. "You despicable little cockroaches just will not stand down, will you!?" she roared in frustration, even as the Psychemon all began closing in on her. "Tch...! I was ordered to keep you all alive; something about an experiment Boss Gray wished to make... but no matter; I'm sure he will understand if a few of you happen to go missing!" she raised one of her hands, and then simply snapped her fingers.

And for a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen... until everyone heard the rumbling.

The rumbling turned to a metallic scraping, crushing, until finally the walls of the nearby factory came crumbling down as something powered right through them. The monster was massive, even larger than the Kuwagamon were, but its hide was a deep dark blue, four arms that ended in vicious claws, four insect wings, and a vicious maw full of fangs that sat beneath a hardened-plated head, with two knife-like horns protruding from the front and back, the front horn being much longer and sharper, making the monster resemble a rhinoceros beetle.

"Dammit, another one!?" Kyouka growled. "How many of these things are there!?"

"That's- The Forest Guardian!" the bulky Psychemon said. "That's Kabuterimon!"

"W-What!?" Saiko and Kyouka both exclaimed.

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Kabuterimon

Level IV

Type: Insect

Attribute: Moral

An Insect Digimon with fearsome power and tremendous defense. Its metal-plated head boasts the sturdiness of a thick iron wall, and its large horn can slice through nearly any enemy's armor! It will fiercely defend its territory, charging up its intense special move, Mega Blaster, to blow away its foes with an electrical ball of energy!

------

"Wasn't he supposed to be on our side!?" Kyouka said.

"Supposed to, but we haven't exactly been so lucky in the past!" Saiko bemoaned.

"Look!" Bakomon called their attention to the monster's upper torso. Their eyes widen as they saw not just one Gear Bug attached to Kabuterimon's chest, but two others further up the chest and the shoulder, and even a fourth one pierced into its upper left bicep.

"Of course it's more of those wretched things!" Saiko growled.

"And four of them...? A little overkill, don't you think?" Kyouka said, quickly preparing for the worst.

"Kendou-kun! Kendou-kun, come in!" Saiko spoke into her walkie-talkie, "We need assistance here! Miss Black has-"

She was cut off by a loud roar that came from the other end of the line, before Itsuka spoke up. "We've got problems here too! The hit-and-run stuff stopped working; we're doing the best we can, but we're pretty outnumbered-!" there was another roar followed by something heavy crashing to the ground. "Airdramon, good job! Look out for the other one! It's coming up the-" the feed was cut for a moment, before returning. "Intelli-senpai, I'm sorry, but we've got our hands full!"

Saiko's hands were already trembling as she saw her carefully laid out plan slowly crumble around her. This wasn't going to happen, not a second time, goddamit!

"What do we do, Bossman!?"

Kyouka calling back to her snapped Saiko back to attention, as she desperately struggled to find some solution. Her mind raced with every possible scenario, but perhaps much too fast, as she found herself unsatisfied with anything she could think of. And when she felt the ground shake as Kabuterimon began his approach, her thoughts just blurred into hazy white noise, and she couldn't even decide whether to start running or not.

Bakomon couldn't evolve; even with the freed Psychemon, they were going up against two powerful opponents, whose forces were only a few feet away and could likely come after them at any moment; they were outnumbered and outgunned; anyone with a half a brain would realize their hopes were slim, and the only logical recourse was to try and retreat with as many of their forces as they could! Yes, of course! That was the only logical sense! Only an absolute fool, a complete and utter madman, would look at this situation and believe, even for one second, that it was still worth standing one's ground and fight-

"ST. LOUIS SMASH-!!"

Izuku came rocketing into the battlefield, power crackling through his body as he aimed a powerful roundhouse kick straight to the side of Kabuterimon's head, halting his advance for a brief but important moment. Kicking himself off of the mighty insect, Izuku spun in the air before landing on his feet right beside Nanimon and the others.

"What the crap-!? IZUKU!?" Kyouka shouted. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

Izuku looked back at her with a shaky grin. "Sorry we're late!"

On his back clung Spadamon, who quickly hopped off while summoning his sword. "It was kinda hard to find this place, even with BlackGabumon's directions!"

A frustrated growl was heard opposite to them, Miss Black facing Izuku and Spadamon with a furious look in her eyes. "Still alive, are we? How irritating..."

"You're not getting rid of us that easily!" Izuku confidently exclaimed, "As long as you keep harming others, we'll keep coming back to stop you!"

Miss Black's eye twitched as her anger only grew. "Don't play me for a fool! You're just saving me the trouble of traveling back to Gabumon Village to finish you off!"

"Psychemon-san." Izuku looked back at the others, "Nanimon and us can keep these two busy. In the meantime, I want you to lead the other Psychemon, and meet up with the others!"

The reptile Digimon quickly nodded at the new plan. "Alright! We can do that!"

"H-Hold on!" Saiko jumped in, "Midoriya-kun, what are you talking about!? We should be thinking about retreating as fast as we can! You nearly got killed fighting her last time; what makes you think this will be any different!?"

Izuku blinked, and looked at Saiko with a bit of an embarrassed look on his face. "Well... nothing does, really... but even if we run away, she'll just chase after us, won't she? In that case, we have to stand our ground here! Even if the fight goes the same way it did last time, I still have to try!"

"Hah! You're real crazy sometimes, hombre!" Nanimon laughed, rolling his arms as he prepared for the fight. "Just try and keep up with me!"

Kyouka then stepped forward, clearly preparing to get involved as well. "Can't let my partner start admiring you more than me. Wouldn't be a very rocking thing to do if I just stood in the sidelines watching!"

"I-I'll help in any way I can too!" Bakomon stepped up.

"Then that makes five-to-two; I like those odds!" Spadamon said with a grin.

Izuku nodded, all five of them turning to face Miss Black and Exermon, the former of which only seemed to grow more and more incensed by the second.

"You... all of you... will you kindly just learn... WHEN TO LIE DOWN AND DIE!?!"

With a swift kick, Itsuka pushed a Hagurumon into crashing against several of its equals, quickly following it up with a powerful punch onto another approaching gear Digimon to earn herself a brief respite from battle. "Kodai-san, behind you!"

The quiet girl, quickly turned at her class representative's shout, swiftly turning to bat away a lunging Hagurumon with a shrunken tree trunk she'd brought from Gabumon Village.

With close-quarter attacks proving to not be very effective, some of the Hagurumon began gathering together, before they launched out their Darkness Gear projectiles from their bodies to try and slow down the humans.

"I got this!" Mina yelled with a grin, clapping her hands together to then shoot out globs of thick acid through the air, aiming right at the Hagurumon's eyes.

"My vision is impaired!!" the Hagurumon screeched as they were blinded by the viscous goo.

Mina chuckled at the successful tactic. "I may not be able to burn 'em, but I can still- WOAH!" she squeaked as she suddenly jumped back to avoid a gear shot her way, before she continued to toss more globs of goo at her enemies.

The Kuwagamon fiercely roared before colliding with a strong arm against Dobermon's side, sending the large hound tumbling to the ground where various spear-wielding Hagurumon soon began to approach to pick at him like vultures. But a fearsome two-headed fiery hound suddenly emerged between them, roaring furiously to get the Hagurumon to freeze, if only for a few seconds. The illusion quickly vanished, just as Camie and Itsuka dove into the Hagurumon to knock them out with fists and shrunken trunks.

"Dober-kun, are you alright!?"

"I'm... fine, Camie. This is nothing I can't handle!" Dobermon answered as he stood back to his feet, facing the Kuwagamon again. Before the insect could charge against him again, Kabukimon dove in from the side, swatting the giant bug on its head to buy her ally some precious resting time.

"I loathe to say it, but I believe this battle-" Kabukimon was interrupted as she had to lean back to avoid a Darkness Gear shot her way, "Has long fallen out of our favor!" she shot back at the Hagurumon with energy beams from her hands, but only managed to scatter them rather than connect.

"At this stage, these gears are causing more trouble than anything else!" Itsuka deduced, as even when their Digimon could manage to get the upper hand against the Kuwagamon, the Hagurumon would simply potshot them while they were distracted, preventing any of them from really getting to capitalize on any small victory. It really could be at any point that the numbers game finally overwhelmed them... until-

"CHAAAAAARGE!!!"

The call sounded out, and the mob of Psychemon came barreling towards the battle, throwing themselves at the Hagurumon to get their deserved payback for their treatement. Many of them even made a beeline straight to a Kuwagamon, clinging onto the giant insect like ants to bring it down if they had to.

"Itsuka!" their Psychemon rushed in, swatting aside a Hagurumon in the process, "You have to hurry!"

"Psychemon!?" Itsuka blinked, "Then, the others-"

"They're in trouble! A big one!"

"Hyah!" Izuku shouted as he jumped at Miss Black, his kick attempt being easily blocked by the Digimon, but this allowed for an opening-

"Blue Brave!" which Spadamon was quick to try and capitalize on, only for Miss Black to twist her body out of his sword's path. This was followed up by Kyouka trying to jab her Earphone Jacks onto Miss Black's neck, but the Digimon waved a hand crackling with electricity to get the ire to flinch away from her.

While this happened, Nanimon contended as best he could with the maddened Kabuterimon, which roared and hissed whenever it attempted to slice into Nanimon's flesh with its horn. "Hoah! Listen here, pal! Maybe in another time we could be buds, but right now, you're just a mad bronco needing a good taking-down-a-peg!" Nanimon let Kabuterimon charge once again, before he grabbed hold of both of the insect's horns to keep the beast in place with all the might he could muster into his arms.

Izuku swung another foot at Miss Black's head, but the Digimon continued to easily dodge his attacks, along with any following attempts by Spadamon or Kyouka. She stuck out her foot, striking Izuku in the stomach after another dodge, then swatted aside Spadamon when he jumped back in, then use her extra pair of hands to grab hold of Kyouka's Jacks, and yank her towards her. Miss Black's hands crackled with vicious electricity, but before she could electrocute Kyouka-

"Transdelivery!" Bakomon jumped Miss Black from behind, shoving a cardboard box over her head, before swiftly dashing from harm's way. Predictably, Miss Black let out a furious roar as she swung her four arms blindly in the air before she grabbed a hold of the box, fingers digging into the cardboard before she ripped the box open to regain her eyesight.

And once she did- "Manchester SMASH!!" Izuku spun in midair, delivering a rock-shattering axe kick right to the top of Miss Black's head, forcing her down to one knee from the strength of the attack.

Miss Black let out a choked gasp, her eyes widened in disbelief and pure, sizzling rage over these worms managing to get their hands on her like this. She let out a growl as she thrust the palm of her hand to collide against Izuku's chest — uncharged, thankfully — then swiftly kicked Spadamon and Bakomon aside when they attempted to get close to her. But then her body nearly locked up in convulsions, Kyouka having managed to sneak up and jab her Jacks into her back, pumping her rapid heartbeat that bounced all over Miss Black's body. The Digimon grabbed her head as she let out a pained cry, but still powered through and grabbed hold of Kyouka's Jack to yank them off of herself; thankfully she stumbled and let go of them, giving Kyouka enough time to pull back and away from danger.

"What the hell is that chick made of!?" Kyouka spoke roughly and rather tiredly, as it was hard enough just to get a hit in on Miss Black, let alone get it to stick.

"We don't have a choice but to keep at it!" Izuku said, "She'll slow down sooner or-" then, a loud crash snapped the both of them to attention, Nanimon having been thrown clean across the field and sent crashing through one of the cages, nearly colliding against where Saiko was standing. While they were worried for them, even more troublesome was the fact that Kabuterimon was now free to aim its attention towards them.

Which, while it seemed to ignore them at first, Miss Black's antennae began to glow, clearly affecting the giant insect, and urging it to turn and face Izuku, Kyouka and the other Digimon. Kabuterimon crossed all four arms in front of him, as crackling energy began to gather in front of them, growing into a large ball of sparkling electricity, before firing out its Mega Blaster. Izuku tried to move as fast as he could to get everyone, Kyouka, Spadamon and Bakomon out of harm's way, but getting all three in his arms proved too time consuming, and he was caught up in the blast just as the ball of electricity struck the ground.

Izuku and the rest were flung into the air, crashing harshly onto the floor with various chokes and cries of pain, Izuku getting the worst of it as his back was still searing from having the blast happening so close to it. His limbs were screaming at him to stop leaning on them as he tried desperately to crawl to his hands and knees, and Miss Black was all too happy to deliver them from that, as she slammed her foot down on Izuku's back to stomp him back to the ground.

"Quite frankly, I don't know which of you I despise the most anymore..." she gruffly sighed, "You, who like a frustrating little cockroach, refuse to simply stay dead..." she then shot a glance at Saiko as she cowered near the cages, "Or that girl, who's been nothing but a thorn on my side with her schemes. I suppose it makes no real difference in the end; you will both die here before the day finished!"

"Not... if I have anything to say about that...!" Spadamon shouted back as he propped himself up with the help of his sword. As soon as he stood on both feet, he charged ahead at Miss Black with a loud cry. "I won't let you harm anyone!!"

Miss Black just growled in frustration, intercepting Spadamon with a heavy knee to his chest that lifted him off the ground, before she slammed him back down with a powerful downward's elbow to his back. "Mad! All you of you are mad, continuing to fight a battle you cannot win!"

Spadamon let out a cough, but still tried to push himself up to his feet, before Miss Black kicked him away, sending him rolling across the dirt. As soon as he came to a stop, Spadamon still kept trying to stand back up. "I-...I still have to try...! I have to keep trying!"

"Don't make me laugh!" Miss Black scoffed, "You honestly still believe you can grandstand this way? Even as your allies crumble around you, and your can barely stand? Don't be ridiculous! It's over! For all of you! And there isn't a damn thing you can do about it! Any attempt you make- No... what you are! You are USELESS!"

This froze Spadamon for a moment. "...useless...?" he quietly echoed, before a wide grin stretched across his face. "No... I'm a Hero In-Training!!"

A brilliant flash of light erupted from the Digivice on Izuku's waist, the holy light converging around Spadamon's body.

"Spadamon, Digivolve to...!!!"

His body grew exponentially in size, taking on a quadrupedal form, his lenghty mane growing wilder as his muscles grew, his tail splitting into two, and bright emerald eyes now glared down upon Miss Black's cowering form.

"LIAMON!!"

Miss Black stepped backward in shock, her body trembling in equal parts anger and fear as yet another of these miserable little cockroaches evolved! "No... nonononononoNO!! This can't be happening- I won't let it!! KABUTERIMON! ERASE THIS BLIGHT STRAIGHT AWAY!!"

The monstruous insect let out a roar, facing Liamon as it did so before it charged up another Mega Blaster, launching the ferocious attack straight at the beast. With awesome speed, Liamon jumped to the side to avoid Kabuterimon's attack, before punching on the insect with its outstretched claws, swiping at its chitinous armor, but more specifically, striking down two of the four Gear Bugs that were clinging to its body.

Kabuterimon stumbled backwards, but still tried to stab its horn at Liamon's chest, but the furious beast swatted him aside with his powerful paw, sending the Kabuterimon staggering. Sparks began gathering around Liamon's mane, before unleashing a powerful lightning with a mighty roar: "Thunder Of King!"

Kabuterimon was struck, letting out a loud cry as the lightning coursed through its body, and completely overwhelmed the remaining Gear Bugs which exploded from the surge of electricity, letting Kabuterimon drop to his knees in exhaustion as his massive form shrunk down until it was the size of the Kuwagamon again.

Miss Black could only stare helplessly, powerlessly as her entire operation crumbled around her, barely able to even get her legs to move as her eyes were locked on the mighty lion that had just defeated what was supposed to be her ace in the hole. And then, to make matters even worse, she heard the second roar; the Airdramon flew up ahead, carrying more of the humans atop her back. Had her Kuwagamon been defeated? Her Hagurumon soldiers as well!? This... this was unacceptable! This was impossible!

"N-No... no... I-I can't... I can't lose...! I can't lose!" she growled, grabbing hold of the sides of her head, which felt ready to split apart. "I CAN'T LOSE LIKE THIS!!"

Izuku looked at her, and simply told her: "You just did."

Something snapped inside Miss Black's mind when Izuku said that. She let out one last ireful roar, her entire body crackling with furious lightning, before she slammed all four of her hands on the ground, causing a mighty explosion and flash of light.

When it was gone, it left behind only a smoking crater on the ground, surrounded by burnt grass, and Miss Black was nowhere to be seen, and everyone could breath a well-earned sigh of relief...

Somewhere, deep inside a dark room illuminated by various mirrors, the lone figure of Mister Green watched events unfurl as the battle came to its completion.

"To think, even a young hotshot like Miss Black would be defeated by such meddlesome little brats..." he grumbled to himself as he chewed on his thumb, "I suppose the message is quite clear: to underestimate them is just asking for trouble..."

He sighed and waved his hand, getting the mirrors to swipe aside, and new ones to replace it, showing all the Psychemon cheering over the surrendering Hagurumon, Kabuterimon rallying the remaining Kuwagamon to keep them in check once more, the Chosen Digimon being congratulated by their masters, and one focusing on Izuku happily gushing over a blushing Spadamon due to his success in evolving again.

"As expected from the Chosen of legend, I suppose..." he sighed. "If they were easy to deal with, then they'd hardly be a threat to fear at all..."

Another wave of his hand, now showing the triumphant vanquishors returning to Gabumon Village and telling everyone the good news of Miss Black's defeat and Kabuterimon's release, the Gabumon offering up their able hands in helping the Psychemon rebuild their village, and all in all, exchanging in optimistic views for a peaceful future as they enjoyed a feast as reward for their victory.

Tomorrow, the Chosen would depart once again, and take to their travels. The further they went, the closer they got to the center of the Chroma Army's operation, and that simply couldn't be allowed.

"Lucky for me, you know what they say... a tower is only as strong as its most fragile stone~"

Mister Green smiled from ear to ear as he flicked the corner of one of the mirrors, sending it into a spin before it abruptly stopped, its image focusing on a girl with lavender hair and a white beret...

Chapter Text

Atop a tall tree, the Owlmon carefully watched the trail leaving Gabumon Village, and the fourteen shapes that traveled through it. After yesterday's battle, the Chosen were well-fed and well-rested, and had set out on their journey once more.

Extending the microphone on his helmet, Mister Brown awaited contact. "This is Mister Brown. Come in, Boss Gray."

"Report." the voice on the other end ordered.

"The Chosen are on the move again, and continue to travel towards Repeat Mountain."

"I see. Unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected. What of Miss Black?"

"I couldn't get a bead on her whereabouts. I've tapped into Mister Green's communications as well, and she hasn't reached him either. I believe she may have gone AWOL."

"She was always too emotional for her own good. No matter." the voice dismissively said. "And Mister Green's preparations?"

"It would seem he's ready, Sir. If they maintain this pace, then by this time after tomorrow, they should arrive at his location. Shall I alert Mister Green?"

"That won't be necessary. He's surely already keeping an eye on their every move."

"As you command, sir." the owl nodded. "And the footage I sent you? Was it adequate, sir?"

"Yes, more than adequate in fact. You did a good job."

"Thank you, Sir, though I must admit my shame; I felt frightened when that hideous transformation occurred... Had I not, I would've gotten better footage for you."

"It's quite alright, Mister Brown. You had never seen the power of Dark Energy with your own eyes; you are young, it is understandable you were not prepared for it. You did your job well, given the circumstances."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Continue to follow the Chosen, and maintain radio silence with everyone but myself."

"As you command." the call was cut and Mister Brown spread his wings, taking flight to continue following the unsuspecting Chosen...

"I'm... so... tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrreeeeeeeeeeed!!" Mina loudly moaned as she wobbled from side to side.

Kyouka glanced back at her during their walk, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe if you weren't carrying Alraumon like that, you'd feel a bit more lively?"

Mina blinked, glancing down at the Digimon she carried in her arms like a big teddy bear. "But Alraumon-chan's even more tired than I am! I mean, have you seen how tiny her legs are? She's gotta walk twice as fast just to keep up with us!"

"My roots feel like they're gonna crumble apart..." groaned Alraumon.

"Hey, my legs are pretty tiny too." noticed Neemon before looking up at Kyouka, "Would you carry me if I was in pain and exhausted, Kyouka-han?"

She blinked, blushing a bit. "Well... if it was that bad, then I guess, sure, I'd want to help ya-"

"I must be pretty easy to carry with those gorilla arms of yo-ORHEEK!!" he immediately got a Jack to his neck, falling to ground as everyone else just carried on without him.

"Don't fall too far behind, Neemon!" Labramon chided.

Camie hummed as she rolled one of her shoulders. "Like, I do gotta agree with Mina-chan a little bit; we've been walking for hours, haven't we?"

"Four..." Yui answered as she checked the time on her Digivice.

"Like, geez! That's a lot of ground!"

"We've still got a lot more of it if we want to get to Header Town, I'm afraid." Itsuka said, knowing it to be true, but even she couldn't hide a sigh. "Sure would be nice to get lucky a third time, and come across Geremon and Numemon."

"Yeah, right! There's nothing lucky about it!" Mina scoffed, "Those guys are totally in cahoots with the Villains!"

"Ashido-san, I don't think you should say that so lightly." Itsuka answered. "We don't have any proof of that."

"Oh, come on! You heard what Intelli-senpai said last time! It's so obvious!"

"I-I did hear what she said, and she also said that they may have been manipulated instead! She never accused them directly of working for the Chroma Army." Itsuka retorted.

Mina just huffed in response, Camie humming in thought as the conversation happened around her. "It does seem hard to believe; Gere-san and Nume-san are so nice!"

This got Mina's expression to flatten, looking at Camie with bafflement. "Are we talking about the same guys here...?"

"if they're bad guys, then I'll simply POW!" Candmon said with a hop for emphasis, "And a ZOOM! I won't show any mercy for liars! Ha ha!"

Dracomon looked at the candle Digimon, tilting her head. "Do you usually hit people like that for telling lies?"

Itsuka frowned slightly at this. "Well, normally you shouldn't do that. No matter how hurtful a lie is, it's not usually grounds to actually hit someone, but... it does depend on the situation, I suppose..." considering that, if Mina was correct, Geremon and Numemon were lying to them about working with the Chroma Army, they would probably have to end up hitting them in self-defense. "In any case, it's better to be safe than sorry, so as long as you don't tell a lie, you won't be giving people reasons to hit you, Dracomon."

"OK! For Itsuka, Dracomon won't ever lie!" the little dragon cheered.

Yui just stared at Itsuka for a moment, before plainly stating: "Big sister..." which quickly got Itsuka to blush and try to ignore the comment.

Paying close attention to the conversation, Izuku spoke up with his own thoughts. "I'm sure it'd be fine if we took a little break, right, Intelli-senpai?" he deferred to their elder on what to do next, the girl taking a short moment not to think about it, but to look around herself before answering.

"Well... I suppose we could." Saiko said, "Some of the Gabumon told me of a place about two days' walk from the village; an inn of sorts, I suppose. I was hoping we would've come across by now, but... well, barring that, we'll just camp out here for lunch, I suppose."

"Woo-hoo! Intelli-senpai with the save~!" Mina cheered as she plopped right down on her butt on the grass to rest her weary legs. The others quickly followed suit, taking their seats on any rocks or tree stumps, and enjoying small servings of the food the Gabumon had provided them with as they took their time to regain their energies. Mina and Camie stuck together, chatting and laughing about whatever topic they happened to be talking about, primarily gushing about their own Digimon; Yui watched with Itsuka nearby as Candmon and Dracomon jumped around in the tall grass after their meals; Kyouka and Neemon sat beneath a tree, the latter taking the opportunity for a quick snooze, while the former just rested her eyes a bit without really falling asleep.

Izuku sat on a rock, scribbling down more of his notes; he'd gotten a lot of them done yesterday, so right now, he was mainly just putting the finishing touches on some of his sketches of the various Digimon they'd seen lately. It was maybe a bit odd to be spending his time perfecting his drawing of an Exermon, but Villain or not, he still found all Digimon rather fascinating in their own unique ways. He was a bit surprised he'd managed to draw her so well out of memory alone, but he'd gotten quite a lot of closeup encounters with Miss Black to get the details down right.

He briefly wondered what might've happened to her; all of her Hagurumon had quickly surrendered after their defeat, and some of them seemed relieved to get to stop all the fighting. Despite Saiko's attempts at getting more answers from them, it seemed like a lot of the Hagurumon were unaware of the Chroma Army's goals, and only worked for them for food in order to survive. It seemed like the land they had come from, somewhere beyond the ocean, had been entirely drained out of all of its resources. This left the Hagurumon desperate for food, until the Chroma Army arrived soon after and promised to keep them fed so long as they worked for them. Something about that didn't sit right with Izuku; while he really lacked any proof, they'd seen firsthand how the Chroma Army takes advantage of the resources of others, so it just seemed a bit too convenient that they would swoop in when the Hagurumon were desperate enough to accept their offer.

He tried not to waste too much time speculating, since it wouldn't exactly do him much good. Looking up from his notebook he watched Spadamon helping Bakomon with some swordsmanship training (courtesy of a couple of sticks they found on the ground), and he felt more at ease; it felt nice to be able to relax after the roller-coaster that had been the last week or so. He glanced beside him, seeing Saiko sitting nearby, but he blinked when he noticed the heavy frown stuck on her face.

"Intelli-senpai...?" he cautiously asked, growing worried that she might be feeling bad. "Is something...?" he stopped when Saiko carefully stood up from her rocky seat, and slowly, silently, began approaching a flowerbed while crouching. She suddenly thrust out both her arms, cupping her hands around something, forming a little cage as she successfully captured whatever it was she was trying to capture.

She silently made her way back to her rock, taking a seat and waiting for the thing in her hands to stop fidgeting, before she could carefully lift one of her hands to reveal the bug that sat on her palm. "...this makes no sense..." she grunted.

Izuku craned his neck to get a better look at the insect Saiko has (impressively!) captured; for the most part, it looked like an ordinary beetle, the kind he saw all the time as a little kid... but when he got a closer look at it, he soon realized something was definitely wrong with it. "Does... does it only have...?"

"Yes." Saiko sighed, letting the beetle fly out of her hand and back to freedom. "Only four legs."

Needless to say, a four-legged insect wasn't normal. "Do you think it's a mutation too...?"

"I don't know what to believe in anymore!" Saiko growled, maybe sounding more annoyed than she really meant to. "This place is just... all wrong! The fish don't resemble any species I know of; the insects are either giant, or lacking in legs; and just- listen!" she let went quiet, letting silence hang for a moment.

"Uhm... to what?"

"No birds!" Saiko quickly answered. "Ever! Not since we started this damned excursion, I haven't heard a single bird's cry! The closest was that Saberdramon thing, but other than that, I haven't heard or seen any bird around! No dogs or cats either, or mice, or any kind of mammal, reptile, anything! It's like they simply don't exist here outside of these Digimon!"

"That... is strange, now that you mention it..."

"My hypothesis of this being a man-made island is sounding more and more likely each day!" Saiko said with a huff, albeit with a hint of pride in her theory most likely being correct.

"...what about the Hagurumon? I mean, they said they came from another continent, right?"

This got Saiko to frown rather quickly. "Perhaps there's multiple man-made islands!" she deduced, albeit noticeably less confidently. "We don't know just how far this bizarre experiment reaches, after all. If it's government-funded, then the sky's the limit! Although for something this vast... it'd have to be a major superpower; American, perhaps, or maybe mumble mumble mumble..."

Izuku could only really stare as Saiko went on a lengthy muttering spree of guesswork and theories, as he quietly wondered if that's how he looked like when seen from the outside. No wonder people look at me kinda funny...

"Hey! Yui! Hey, guys! Come look! Come look!"

"We found something! It's huge!"

Candmon and Dracomon quickly drew in everyone's attention, as they all stood up and rushed to see what it was they had found. Past some thick bushes and trees, they would come across a steep hill's edge overlooking a wide flat area of lush green grass, and right in the center of it was a large building besides a river, in an old-fashioned Japanese style looking straight out of a period piece drama, a large and flashy banner sitting atop the entrance, energetically advertising itself as "INN & SPA!!!"

"Is that what you were looking for earlier, Intelli-san?" asked Bakomon.

Saiko herself sighed, half relieved. "It would appear so. To think it was just a few feet away from us this whole time..."

"Better late than never, I suppose." Itsuka said just to give a positive spin.

"Ooooh~! Do I see what I think I see~!?" Mina cheerfully asked as she took close attention to the sign. "Does that say spa!?"

"That, like, would be so super good right now!" Camie also cheered. "My arms and legs are so stiff; I could totes go for a massage!"

"Tell me about it!" Mina agreed, "And we haven't had a good bath since Jellymon Village! That feels like ages ago! I must smell gross!"

"I think you still smell superbly sweet, Mina-chan!"

Mina giggled a bit at Camie's compliment, just as Kyouka and Neemon approached. "Don't get too excited; we don't exactly have the money to pay for anything extravagant." Kyouka quickly killed Mina and Camie's good mood.

"So, like, how are we even going to spend the night here, if we don't have the dosh?" asked Camie.

"Apparently, the Gabumon trade a lot of their meat with the owners." Izuku explained, "If we tell them BlackGabumon sent us, they should let us stay for the night."

Mina pouted with a light kick at the dirt. "Couldn't have added just a quick little spa break in that package..."

"Ashido-san, we shouldn't look to take advantage of other people's kindn- ah! Kodai-san! W-Wait up!" Itsuka jolted when she saw Yui just casually jump and start expertly sliding down the steep hill, her arms stretched out like she was balancing atop skates down a rail. Everyone else followed her, albeit a lot more carefully as they all made their way down the hill, and towards the inn.

"This construction is definitely Japanese; maybe circa 19th century, I would say..." Saiko muttered to herself, "I suppose out of everything, Japanese-speaking Digimon building Japanese-looking buildings would be reasonable... were it not for every bloody thing else on these islands making no sense!"

"I keep tellin' ya; we're Digimon-speaking Digimon buildin' Digimon-lookin' buildings. It ain't that hard." Neemon said with a short yawn, much to Saiko's growing annoyance.

The Chosen opened the double doors that lead into a large foyer, the interior being quite lavishly decorated with bronze and brass vases, flowerpots, and many mirrors with on the walls with fancy and intricately-designed frames. The front desk was located right ahead, with two sets of stairs on either side that lead up to the rooms on the second floor; there were signs dotted around indicating the way to the baths, dining hall, as well as standard restrooms.

Reaching the front desk, Izuku rang the bell to see if anyone would answer.

"WELL-U-COME~!"

And sure enough someone did, seemingly appearing directly from underneath the counter, and giving everyone quite the startle from how suddenly they'd answered. But it wasn't just that that startled everyone-

"It's-"

"No way-"

"Is that really-"

"A human! FINALLY!" Saiko cheered in sweet, sweet relief at the sight of the perfectly normal-looking man standing right in front of them. He was fairly tall, middle-aged and bald, but looking quite fit regardless, wearing a bright green and red kimono. The only bizarre thing about him would be the mask he wore over his face, displaying a cartoony set of eyes and mouth.

"My, what a lively bunch! Ooh-ho-ho!" the man chuckled. "Tell me, little ones, you look awfully ragged and tired. You seem to have had quite the adventure just getting here!"

"You don't know the half of it..." Kyouka sighed.

"I have so! Many! Questions!" Saiko emphasized, "And it feels so nice to finally find someone who can answer them!"

"Ooh-ho-ho~! I'll be happy to answer whatever I can, but that can wait, can't it?" the man said, "I can see right on your faces you all need plenty of rest and relaxation! How about we take care of that first, hmm?"

"That would be pretty-"

"That'd be great, thank you!" Mina quickly interrupted Itsuka.

"We could really use it!" Alraumon echoed.

"Yeah! We're, like, here because BlackGabumon told us about this place!" Camie quickly stepped in, "And, like, we were told you could look after us?"

"Ah, yes, of course! Of course! Ooh-ho-ho~!" the man answered, "Any friends of BlackGabumon are friends of ours! Just for that, you've earned yourselves our 'Super Heartbeat Deluxe Heaven's Restful Package" at our inn, with full access to all of our amenities for no charge~!"

"FOR REAL REALS!?" Mina, Alraumon and Camie all shrieked in utter joy. "Then, the bath-?"

"All yours!"

"The spa-!?"

"Ready and waiting for you!"

"The food!?"

"Cooked to perfection for your pleasure!"

Mina was practically in tears as she held Alraumon's hands. "Good things do happen to good people!"

"Mina-chaaaan!" Alraumon cried through her own tears of joy.

Itsuka, meanwhile, clearly felt a bit uncomfortable by the generosity. "A-Are you sure about this? We really don't want to be a bother..."

"Ooh-ho-ho! It's no bother! No bother at all!" the man assured her. "We're more than happy to serve you!" he then clapped his hands, urging several men and women to suddenly appear from seemingly nowhere; each person wore a set of plain scrubs, mainly a greenish-yellow, but there were some dressed in a dark grey as well. "We aim to please~!"

And with that, the Chosen were each escorted to enjoy the available facilities.

"Food..." Yui said.

"Wow! It's a feast!" Candmon jumped with joy in sight of the table filled to the brim with dozens upon dozens of tasty-looking dishes, seemingly from all over the world!

"This almost feels like a bit much..." Kyouka said, although she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a bit peckish. They'd been rationing the food the Gabumon gave them, so they hadn't exactly had the opportunity to just pig out and eat whatever they wanted for a while now.

"Speak for yourself!" Neemon told her, already seated at the table and dumping a bunch of assorted food on top of a piece of bread, "This seems just right for me!"

As Candmon quickly joined him, Kyouke frowned slightly as she looked at one of the attendants. "Is it really OK for us to eat all of this?"

"Chuuchuuchuu!" a quiet snicker came from beside her, a tiny masked man in a yellow chef's gown stepping up, being followed by a much larger man in grey chef's clothing. "Don't you worry, little girl; we've got plenty of food! We can afford to give our customers a little treat now and then! So, please, nothing would make us happier than to watch you enjoy our dishes! Chuuchuuchuu!"

Kyouka did feel a bit more at ease after the man's reassurance, although she couldn't quite shake the feeling his voice sounded familiar somehow. "Well, alright, I guess we could-" she paused, noticing Yui was already scoping out the fried chicken, Candmon mowed down a whole fish, and Neemon put the finishing touches on his steak-meatball-fish-cauliflower-tomato-lasagna-lettuce-bacon-egg-extra lasagna-bologna-ham sandwich tower. "...alright, I guess I can feel more at ease with it." she sighed before moving to joining the others, but she did stop to ask: "Oh, so, like, is there a festival going on, or something?"

"Hm?" the small chef tilted his head, "Whatever do you mean?"

"The masks?" Kyouka raised an eyebrow, since it felt pretty obvious what she was referring to.

"Oh! Th-These old things?" the chef jolted a bit, "These-...These are... ah, these are just... part of the uniform! Ah, yes! That's all they are!"

Kyouka kept a straight poker face, but something about the chef's nervousness didn't sit right with her. "I see... well, alright then." and she just took a seat by the table, much to the man's relief...

"Your bath is ready."

"Do enjoy, y'hear!" the two female attendants in greenish-yellow clothes announced, much to Camie's delight.

"Sweet! Thanks a bunch, like, seriously!"

"Yay! Dracomon gets to take a bath with Itsuka!" the little dragon cheered

"I don't understand this fixation with baths, to be quite honest." Labramon said, "I find a simple shower to be more than enough time in the water for me."

"Eh? Really!?" Camie sounded genuinely surprised, "But baths are so totes relaxing! They're the best! Ain't that right, Itsuka-chan?"

"Uhh... actually, I'm kinda with Labramon on this; sorry, Utsushimi-senpai." Itsuka answered. "I don't take that many baths, even back home."

"Eeehh!?" Camie just sounded disappointed now. "You guys are such weirdos! Who's ever heard of not liking baths!"

"I-It's not like I hate it or anything; I just never feel like I really have the time, is all!" Itsuka explained. "Between studying, training, not to mention the chores around the house..."

"Geez, so lame..." Camie said with a pout, only getting Itsuka to feel more awkward. Was her disposition really that strange...?"

Just then, a wide man dressed in red stepped in. "Now, you ladies mind the chitchat, and walk right in!" he urged them to actually enter the changing room. "Don't want your dang-ol'- uh, I mean, d-don't want your baths to run cold, now!"

Itsuka blinked, but Camie cheerfully grabbed her arm with a "right away!", and they all head straight inside...

Mina hummed a cheerful little tune as she stepped into the room, fluffy towel around her as she let out a squeak of joy at the sight of the massage beds. "I see it, but it's still hard to believe! It's like a dream come true~!"

"Even I didn't expect to find a place like this around here!" Alraumon giggled, adjusting her own towel despite not really needing it. "Are massages really that good?"

"They're the best~!" Mina answered, "Back home, I'm always on the hunt for any discount coupons for massages! It's a 24/7 mindset you gotta be in if you want to get the best deals; that's how good they are! And once in a mythical blue moon, that's when you find it!" Mina's eyes lit up with a burning fire, "The legendary free massage coupon! That's when you know the gods have all smiled upon you, and blessed you with their heavenly fortune!"

"Wow!" Alraumon clapped, easily being swept up in Mina's energy. "I can't wait to try it! Although, I gotta admit, the thought of letting someone else touch me is... making a bit nervous..."

Mina nodded in understanding, giving her partner a pat on the shoulder. "It can feel a bit awkward at first, but you get used to it quickly; trust me, you'll be so relaxed, you won't even think about it! Especially if you happen to get a rather cute masseur too~"

"Ahem! Here we are, to deliver your massages, or whatever..."

"Yeah, here we are!" the two men said as they suddenly appeared, the former wearing bright yellow clothes, while the latter wore a green outfit.

"Lie down, and we can get this over with."

Mina frowned slightly at this, watching the masked men with some annoyance. "Yikes, is that really the attitude to bring in front of guests? Aren't masseurs supposed to be relaxed and stuff?"

The man in yellow just scoffed. "You want the job done right, or do you just want to complain? Get on the stupid bed thing!"

Pouting at this, Mina crossed her arms. "What, you expect me to actually relax and let you put your hands on me when you're acting like this!? I should file a complaint, is what I should do! This is bad practice!"

"Why you little-!!"

"Mina-chan? Is this part of the massage experience?" Alraumon asked.

"It most certainly is not!" Mina huffed, "We just got unlucky to get saddled with someone who woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning, and decided to act like a big jerk to their paying customers!"

"You're not even paying a dime for this!" the man in yellow snarled as he pointed an accusatory finger at Mina, "I knew it! I was right from the very start, Your soul is rotten! Rotten! Y'hear me, Pink!?"

Mina was definitely surprised at the man's outburst, and while she was equally mad about it, something about what he said took precedent to all of that. "What... did you call me?"

"And up here is where your rooms are." the bald innkeeper in green and red motioned towards the various rooms.

"Thank you so much, for all of this." Izuku said.

"It's very kind of you to be so accommodating!" Bakomon echoed.

"Ooh-ho-ho, please, it's nothing!"

"After what we've experienced, even the smallest of hint of a familiar setting is a godsend." Saiko said, "I have so many questions, I hardly even know where to begin with them!"

"I'll be more than happy to answer them, Intelli-sama! In fact, I was hoping if you could give me just a bit of your time; I would like to discuss something with you about where you should head to next. If you would please, follow me into my office."

Saiko quickly nodded. "Of course. Any assistance you could give us in contacting our respective schools would be much appreciated."

"Ah-! Wait for me, Intelli-san!"

"I would rather discuss this in private, if it's all the same to you~" the innkeeper interrupted Bakomon, much to Izuku's confusion. "We have a library down the hall; you're free to peruse through the shelves to your heart's content while you wait!"

Bakomon clearly looked uncertain about leaving Saiko alone, something she noticed as just huffed about. "Bakomon, you stay with Izuku and Spadamon." she ordered, "I'll only be a minute, I don't need a bodyguard breathing down on me all the time." before she followed the innkeeper.

"Intelli-san..." the box Digimon slumped as he watched her leave, leaving Izuku to try and give him a reassuring pat on the back.

"I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it." he said to try and lift Bakomon's spirits, as they headed towards the library.

The box Digimon let out a sigh, but followed nonetheless. "Intelli-san still doesn't trust me, does she..."

"I-I wouldn't say that!" Izuku quickly tried to remain positive, "She did trust you to protect her during Miss Black's attack, didn't she? I'm sure she just... has a hard time expressing it, that's all!"

Bakomon didn't seem completely convinced at first, but as he mulled it over, he seemed more willing to believe it. "You make a good point. Intelli-senpai is certainly hard to read sometimes... Still, I do wish I could have something similar to what the rest of you have with your partners..." he sighed. "Midoriya-san, Spadamon, how do you do it?"

"Eh?"

"Is it something I'm doing wrong? How do I get Intelli-san to open up to me?"

Both Izuku and Spadamon exchanged brief looks of awkwardness, considering they were being asked on how to communicate better with one's partner, when they have had their own issues in that department for a while.

"...honesty." Spadamon was the first to answer. "That's what's most important. How you feel is important, and it's important to let your partner know about it. Even if it's not a positive feeling, even if you're ashamed of it; if something's on your mind, than you have to talk to her."

Izuku nodded. "Spadamon's right. If there's something you want to tell Intelli-senpai, then you should talk to her about it. That way, you can better understand one another, and get closer in the process."

Bakomon slowly nodded along with a hum, before crossing his arms in thought. How did he really feel about all of this? Did he have anything he wanted to say to Saiko? Nothing really jumped out at him; he was happy just being at her side, even if it was at arm's length, but... is that really how he felt?

When they arrived at the library, Izuku couldn't help but be impressed. While it wasn't the largest library he'd ever been to — UA's library was much bigger than it — it was still quite impressive to see this many books gathered in one place, especially for an inn. There was a single man there, tall and well-built, wearing blue clothes storing away some books onto the shelves. Curiosity quickly grabbed a hold of Izuku as to what kind of books a place like this even had, maybe some history books regarding the island, or some biology books explaining more about the Digimon!

"What are we even doing in the library anyway?" Spadamon scoffed.

"Well, it might be good to get some information." Izuku explained with a light chuckle, "Like... I don't know, maybe the history of the island, or biology books about Digimon, or even books about local Heroes! I'd love to read up on those!"

Bakomon looked up at him with a blink. "All of you seem very devoted to becoming Heroes, but... you seem to speak the most about them out of all you humans. You must really admire them!" he pointed out.

Izuku jolted a bit, gaining a slight blush. "W-Well... yeah! Of course I do! I just think the idea of helping others is... just the coolest thing you can do! S-So, some have called me a bit obsessed, yes, and it's true I have kind of a hobby of writing notebooks full of Hero and Quirk analysis; I'm just always excited to learn more about them! Th-That's not weird, right...?"

"A little weird."

"It is peculiar."

Izuku nearly tripped on his own feet and fell face-first on the floor, narrowley managing to catch himself before sighing in defeat. Well, his mom thought it wasn't weird, and that's what mattered at the end of the day! He was just going to focus on reading up on something interesting, and ignore his embarrassment!

But this curiosity quickly turned to confusion as he grabbed a book off the shelf, and saw-

"It's... blank?"

"Once again, I simply cannot tell you what a relief it is to have found you!" Saiko cheerfully exclaimed, "I was starting to lose hope we'd come across any human before the month's end."

The innkeeper's office was as extravagantly designed as the lobby of the building, albeit with even more mirrors on the walls than normal. The innkeeper himself had remained silent, just letting Saiko chat away on her own.

"But I knew that, sooner or later, I'd be proven right! Although I do find it rather strange the other Digimon never mentioned humans living on this island, I must simply assume they weren't aware of it somehow..." she hummed, but quickly pushed those thoughts aside. "Anyway, I can finally ask: where, exactly, are we! Surely we must still be in Japan, right? I mean, the language, this building; that pretty much proves it, doesn't it!"

"Japan...?" the innkeeper asked, "I'm afraid I've never heard of such a place either."

This sent a crack down Saiko's optimism, gaining a frown as the man failed to give her the answer she was hoping. "Oh, for heaven's sake... w-well, can you at least tell me what country this is!?"

"...Intelli-sama, what are your thoughts on the others who accompany you?"

Saiko blinked, caught off guard by the off-topic question. "What?"

"Do you believe that you seven will be enough to find your way back to where you came from?" the innkeeper asked again.

"I... well..." she was clearly confused by the sudden questioning, "I won't claim they're the best team I've had to work it, of course; if even only four of my classmates were here, things would be going a lot more smoothly, I can say that with certainty... But they've demonstrated themselves quite capable in a pinch, even for a bunch of first years." she frowned slightly, "I'm not sure about getting back home, but all we need is to find a Hero, or the police, or anyone really who might be able to lead us to an embassy, or even just a computer with an internet connection! That reminds me, I don't suppose you have a working WiFi here either?"

"Intelli, while I sadly can't give you the answers you want, I can offer you something better." the innkeeper said. "I can offer you the full support of the Chroma Army."

This got Saiko to jolt. "W-What!? The Chroma- Where did that come from!?" she then froze, suddenly realizing something. "Wait... your-...your voice... I remember I've heard it somewhere before..."

"There's no need for this little misunderstanding to go any further than it already has. I'm sure you are an understanding lady, Intelli~" the innkeeper chuckled.

And that's when she realized it. "Y-You... you were on the phone back at the factory! You're Mister Green!"

"Ooh-ho-ho-ho~!!" the form of innkeeper seemed to expand, before the disguise popped like a balloon, revealing the green metallic form of Mercuremon in full, the Digimon's mirror-like face grinning widely at Saiko. "Correct~! A pleasure to meet you!"

Saiko stepped back to get away from the Digimon, inching towards the door. "C-Curses, I can't believe I feel for such an obvious trap-!!"

"Ah-ah-ah, not quite!" Mercuremon wagged a finger, "This only has to be a trap if you let it be, Chose One~" he chuckled. "I did mean what I say: all I wish to do for now... is talk~"

"At last, my greatest creation is completed!" Neemon cheered as he finished stacking food upon food upon food, held together between two buns. "I know what you're thinking, and no, I won't share it!"

Kyouka just frowned at him. "That's not what I was thinking." she flatly stated, watching as Neemon somehow managed to pick up that barely-edible atrocity of a sandwich tower, and prepared to take his first bite. But just before he did so-

"H-Hngh... Y-Yui... I-I don't feel so good...!" Candmon hunched over his seat, grabbing his stomach in pain.

Yui's eyes widened slightly, quickly tending to her pained partner. It didn't take Kyouka very long to connect the dots, as Candmon had been the only one so far to have had any of the food on the table. Just as Neemon was about to take his first bite, Kyouka suddenly shoved the sandwich tower off his hands, the culinary concoction splatting to the ground.

"NOOOOOO!!" Neemon cried in anguish as he looked over the charnel house of wasted food.

Kyouka stood up from her chair, already on the defensive. "It's poisoned; this was a trap!"

"Chuchuchu..." the chef in yellow chuckled, "You're a perceptive one, I'll give you that!" his disguise then popped from around him, revealing Chuuchuumon standing in his place. The mouse Digimon then quickly scurried over to the larger man, who quickly shed his disguise to reveal Damemon! Not only that, but the various staff members also revealed themselves to be Hagurumon and Vegimon as they surrounded the Chosen. "Chuuuchuchu! How I've longed for sweet revenge, after how I was humiliated by a bunch of simpletons like yourselves! And while I can't kill you, by Mister Green's orders..."

With a snap of his fingers, the mirrors in the room lit up in a brilliant light, forcing Kyouka and Neemon to cover their eyes as the area around them changed. Large walls of concrete stretched out to the red and black sky, and thousands of metal tubes trailed across the uneven and oppressively claustrophobic terrain in every direction to add cold metal to the concrete jungle, reminding Kyouka a lot of one of UA's training grounds, apart from the various glowing mirrors still on the walls.

"I can still make you regret ever crossing me~!" Mister Yellow chuckled.

"Well? Is it dang-ol' done yet!?"

"Yes, sir!"

"We've pumped the room full of sleeping gas, just like ya said!"

"Guh-wah! Good!" the man in red guffawed, just before his disguise exploded to reveal RedVegimon, "Now those dang-ol' Chosen won't be a problem to us no more! Let's dang-ol' go!" the other two staff members, whose disguises also fell to reveal two Vegimon, dutifully followed his orders, the three plant Digimon marching into the bathing room to grab their quarries, except-

"Grau Lärm!"

A might howl blasted them right out of there, the Vegimon tumbling on top of one another in a heap as they were launched against the wall. Dobermon then walked out from the doorway, followed by Camie, Itsuka and Dracomon.

"I should've known something was fishy here." Itsuka said, "But I didn't piece it together until I recognized that loud mouth of yours, Mister Red!"

"Trying to catch us with the same trick twice? That's, like, so super lame, my dude!" Camie stuck her tongue out at the red fruit.

RedVegimon growled as he and his soldiers stood back up, soon being joined by a few more Vegimon as backup. "You dang-ol' brats think you're so dang-ol' smart! Well we'll dang-ol' show you what's what!" he snarled as he and his men stood prepared to attack at any moment.

"Dracomon evolve too! Dracomon, Digivo-" the tiny dragon jumped, eager to stand up to their foes, but before she could do so, the area around them was covered in light from the various mirrors lining the walls. The floor beneath them would turn to soil, and soon, they would be surrounded by strange multicolored vegetation on all sides, along with various glowing mirrors Came and Itsuka finding themselves on a field somewhere.

"You dang-ol' Chosen won't dang-ol' worm your dang-ol' way outta this one!" RedVegimon shouted. "GET 'EM!"

"I-I didn't call you anything!"

"Yes you did!" Mina aimed an accusatory finger at the man, "You said 'Pink', didn't you? And there's only one person who's called me that since I got here!"

The man in yellow grunted, before his disguise finally exploded, revealing none other than Geremon standing on top of stilts. The man in green also quickly revealed himself to be Numemon, on slightly shorter stilts.

"It's the Poop Eaters!" yelled Alraumon, much to Geremon's frustration.

"Stop sayin' it like that!" he hopped off the stilts with a huff. "Fine! Whatever! Ya sniffed us out!"

"Not a hard thing to do with your stench!" Mina quickly said.

"Gh-!" Geremon nearly tripped and fell, "Why you little-!!"

"Ya kinda walked right into that one, Geremon..." Numemon said.

"Sh-Shut up! Whose side are you on, anyway!?" Geremon grunted at his partner.

"Bleugh! Yuck! I can't believe I nearly got touched by you slimy slugs!" Mina nearly gagged at the mere thought. "I knew you were up to no good this whole time! This was part of some Chroma scheme all along!"

Geremon chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Heheh! So you can be perscriptive after all!"

"...don't you mean 'perceptive'?" Alraumon asked.

"..." Geremon looked over at Numemon, who just looked unsure. "I-In any case!" Geremon quickly changed the subject, "You fell right into our trap! Mister Green ordered us to keep you put!"

"Yeah, so you ain't going anywhere!" Numemon echoed. And with that, every mirror in the room emitted a strong flash of light, washing over the area and forcing Mina and Alraumon to close their eyes.

When the light diminished, Mina quickly reopened her eyes, only to fine their location had changed. "W-What the...!?" instead of the massage parlor, now they were inside a dark, damp place, thick concrete surrounding them as the platforms they found themselves on were surrounded by rushing water, and various tubes and pipes zigzagged seemingly at random above and below them, along with the multiple glowing mirrors scattered everywhere. "Are-... We're in the sewers!? Gross, gross, gross!"

"Gyah-ha-ha! You're on our turf now, Pink!" Geremon cackled.

"Yeah! We got the home field advantage now!" Numemon echoed.

"Aaaah!! I can't believe I'm stuck in a gross sewer wearing nothing but a towel!" Mina shrieked, but she was at least glad she was wearing sandals, but that was a small mercy. "Gross! Utterly gross! Super-super GROSS!! I want my clothes back! Gimme my clothes back right now!!"

Geremon flinched. "Gh- Are you even listenin'!?"

"Mina-chan, I'll make them give you back your clothes!" Alraumon stepped forward, holding out her arms as light gathered around her, "Alraumon, Digivolve to... KABUKIMON!" the flowery warrior stomped a foot on the ground, swinging her hair in a circle in front of her. "To take advantage of a beautiful girl's desire for a relaxing massage; such a thing is unforgivable! Such heinous deception cannot go unpunished!"

The two mollusks jolted at Kabukimon's fiery statement. "H-Hey, ain't ya takin' this a bit too personally-

"I am Kabukimon!" she thrust an arm forward, keeping the other close to her head as she struck a pose, "In the name of the cherry blossom, I WILL PUNISH YOU!"

As if it weren't obvious something was wrong before, Izuku now felt fully confident in thinking so as the room around them darkened, being replaced by a vast empty land beneath a red and black sky, the once well-kept shelves now being aged and half-buried in pale blue sand, and surrounded by glowing mirrors.

Needless to say, they were all quickly on guard.

"Spadamon, get ready to transform! It looks like we got caught in another trap after all!"

"Roger!" the small lion agreed as he brandished his sword, keeping his eyes and ears open for any threats.

Bakomon frantically looked around, trying to find the door they had come from. "O-Oh no, this is bad... this is bad... Intelli-san's still out there somewhere! I have to find her!"

"I know you're worried Bakomon, but we should stick together just in case-" he stopped, hearing a pair of footsteps approach on the sand. Turning his head, sure enough, he recognized the large shape of the blue dragon Strikedramon approaching them. "Mister Blue!"

Spadamon wasted no time jumping between Izuku and the approaching dragon, wielding his sword high as he shouted: "Spadamon, Digivolve t-"

"Hold up!" Mister Blue grunted as he raised his hand, "Wait just a minute. Before you get all gung-ho and transform, hear me out for a minute, will you?"

Izuku blinked, both him and the other Digimon taken by surprise at the request, which they naturally took with a lot of skepticism.

"You tried to kill us!" Spadamon pointed out, "Why should we listen to anything you have to say!"

"I guess I don't really have a strong argument to make for myself." Mister Blue rather casually conceded to the point. "All I can do is ask you trust me on this."

There were a lot of red flags going off inside Izuku's brain, but for whatever reason, the first words out of his mouth were: "Let's hear him out." much to Spadamon and Bakomon's surprise, "I-I'm not saying I trust him or anything, so stay on your guards regardless. As for you-" he addressed Mister Blue right away, "First, I want to know: is everyone else alright?"

Mister Blue nodded his head. "They ought to be. Mister Green gave us orders to keep you all alive for now. I can't exactly speak for the others, it's possible a fight's breaking out as we talk, but the other Chosen should at least be alive. Now, c'mon, follow me." he motioned as he turned around, heading towards the darkness.

"I-I don't mean to doubt you, Midoriya-san, but... I really hope you know what you're doing." Bakomon fearfully said, and unfortunately for his nerves-

"I hope so too..." that was Izuku's answer, before they all followed Mister Blue deeper into the darkness...

Saiko tried her best to appear calm and collected, but to say she was at a serious disadvantage was an understatement.

She found herself in a room (she assumed it was a room; she couldn't actually see any walls among the reddish darkness, but there was no draft to indicate they were outdoors), surrounded on all sides by rows upon rows of mirrors, some tall and propped on the floor, others circular or square and floating in midair. And before her was the oddest mirror of them all, Mister Green, floating slightly above the floor. With a finger, he beckoned one of the mirrors over to him, the reflective surface shining brightly before revealing several images.

"Look at them, Intelli." he said as the mirror began reflecting the other Chosen: Kyouka and Nanimon fending off Vegimon and Hagurumon while protecting Yui and Candmon; Dobermon and Airdramon alongside Camie and Itsuka fighting Mister Red and his Vegimon; Mina and Kabukimon ducking and weaving between pipes to avoid a rain of fecal matter being launched at them. "If nothing else, I will give you this: you Chosen are persistent~"

"Hmph... You said you wished to talk; did you perhaps mean to taunt instead?" Saiko retorted, still trying to put on a strong air and not show Mister Green any weakness.

"Ooh-ho-ho! This is no taunt, believe me! I really do mean it!" Mister Green said, "In fact, it is exactly what I wished to speak to you about! That persistence; that tenacity... I really do quite admire it~!"

Saiko's eyes narrowed, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of her face as she struggled to read the faceless Digimon.

"Boss Gray may have ordered your execution, but personally, I find that such a waste! I believe we all have much more to gain by simply working together."

"Your belief is quite unfounded, I assure you!" Saiko quickly made sure he knew that. "There is nothing for us to gain by working with the likes of you!"

"Really...?" Mister Green hummed. "Not even finding your way back home~?" this gave Saiko pause, and he noticed it. "Let's be realistic here, Intelli. You're a smart girl, that much is clear; how much longer do you really think your little group will survive coasting on luck, as you have thus far? How much longer will you find yourselves relying on the kindness of strangers, and the bountifulness of nature, to provide you with food and shelter? And who's to say what other dangers await you out there! Can you really say, with absolute confidence, that a group of inexperienced youths like yourselves have what it takes to survive long enough to find the help you need?"

Saiko didn't answer, growing silent as she mulled over Mister Green's words.

"So, consider what we have to offer: a solid infrastructure; technology; plenty of eyes and ears that can help you search not just all over this island, but even beyond! You needn't aid us in our work; we'd be doing all the heavy lifting, all for your sake! Because getting you all back home safe... why, that's a win-win for everyone involved~!"

Dobermon let out a mighty bark, shaking the air in front of him to force away several Vegimon and give himself some room to breathe. While the Vegimon weren't very strong, their sheer numbers were beginning to overwhelm their defense. Above in the dark sky, Airdramon blasted down spiral tornadoes of fire to disperse more of the Vegimon, who's quickly try and pelt the dragon by flinging poop at her. Not only were they bothersome to fight, they had to be unpleasant about it too...

"Red Hot Machine Gun!" cried out Mister Red as he spat out a multitude of chili peppers from his mouth in rapid succession, the pods exploding in small but potent bursts when they connected with Airdramon's side, forcing the dragon off the skies and sending her crashing to the ground.

"Airdramon!" cried out Itsuka, swatting aside an approaching Vegimon with a potent kick, before she rushed over to her partner's side. "Airdramon! Are you OK!?"

The dragon groaned but opened her eyes, coiling her body to be able to lift herself up onto an upright position. "Fine... but... getting tired... so hungry...!"

"You must be burning through your energy fast..." given how they had to be frugal with their meals, the Digimon also hadn't had much to eat since they stopped to rest earlier.

"But Aidramon... can still fight!" she assured her, "To protect Itsuka, that's what she'll do!" she faced the oncoming Vegimon, before breathing out another tornado of fire at them.

Close by, Camie couldn't do much besides try to fight off the Vegimon with her kicks, which weren't proving to be quite as effective as Itsuka's. Needless to say, she was a bit out of her league when it came to prolonged hand-to-vine combat. The Vegimon swung their vine whips at her, managing to get a good strike on her arm and leaving a deep red gash on her skin. Camie, for her part, held back any cry of pain; she could endure it, and she didn't want to distract Dobermon from his own battle for survival. As the Vegimon made their approach, Camie had to think fast on how to buy herself a little more time.

She stood up straighter, bringing her hands together, and then pulling off a series of complicated and dexterous signals with her hands. "Fire Breath no Jutsu!" before she blew out a plume of fire from her mouth, getting the Vegimon to scatter in terror at the prospect of being caught in the fire. So scared were they, that none seem to notice the fire had no heat to it at all. None of them noticed she had just told them to leave her alone in sign language either.

Dobermon, meanwhile, swung his powerful paws to swat aside multiple Vegimon in one go, before blasting a Schwarz Strahl straight towards Mister Red. The slipper fruit dodged it however, slamming both his thick clubs on the floor to launch himself towards Dobermon, swinging down one of those clubs onto the large dog as he came down. "Eat this, ya dang-ol' mutt!" the club connected hard against Dobermon's side, forcing the hound backwards with a painful cry. "You dang-ol' Chosen should've just dang-ol' stayed where you dang-ol' came from! You'll regret ever crossin' our way, I'll dang-ol' make dang-ol' sure of it!"

"Dober-kun!" Camie called out as she approached the fight scene, swiftly repeating her sign language before blowing out another stream of "fire" at Mister Red. Unfortunately, the plant Digimon didn't move, letting the illusion harmlessly wash over him. Mister Red turned to her with a cackle, before trying to slam the clubs against her, only for the distraction to allow Dobermon to headbutt Mister Red, and force him back.

"Camie, please stand back!"

"But, Dober-kun, I can't just-!" before she could argue, Mister Red had already thrown himself back in to continue battling Dobermon. She frantically looked around herself, trying to find something, anything that could help them. Unfortunately, the vegetation surrounding them didn't look particularly effective offensively, and while she could maybe grab one of those mirrors-

Wait a second... she knew those mirrors had glowed just before they were transported into this strange field. A field that had no breeze, fresh or otherwise.

If she was right about this, then...

Camie sprinted forward, jumping up onto Dobermon's back as soon as there was an opening in his fight with the RedVegimon.

"Camie, I said stay ba-"

"Dober-kun, listen!" she firmly said, aiming at one of the glowing mirrors nearby. "We need smash through that thing! Trust me on this!"

Mister Red let out a snort. "There ain't not dang-ol' way to escape from here, girlie! You can just dang-ol' forget to-YOW!" he yelped as he was pelted by sharp blades of winds launched his way by Airdramon.

"Utsushimi-senpai!" called Itsuka as she clung to one of Airdramon's horns. "I don't know what you're planning, but we'll help!"

With a nod, Camie and Dobermon, along with Itsuka and Airdramon, faced down RedVegimon and his cronies, immediately charging right into the fray to tackle their enemies head on!

"Ew, ew, ew, EWW!!" Mina cried out as she was carried by Kabukimon, who leapt from platform to platform, pipe to pipe, deftly dodging every putrid poop projectile thrown her way by their dastardly and disgusting adversaries.

Kabukimon would occasionally fire back with energy blasts from her hands, but the slippery, slimy slugs would duck in and out of the pipes, traveling through them with astounding speed and an encyclopedic knowledge of which pipe lead to where, allowing them to pop their heads out, try and snipe Kabukimon with a thrown poop, then immediately reposition themselves into a more advantageous firing spot.

"Gyah-ha-ha! How do ya like them apples!" taunted Geremon. "This is the power of our combined brotherhood! With it, we can bring down every opponent!"

"Yeah! We're the best when we're together!" Numemon laughed.

"You're just double gross, is what you are!" Mina quickly shouted back at them while in Kabukimon's arms. "Don't you have any self respect, throwing poop at a pair of ladies!?"

"You ain't no lady, Pink!" Geremon shouted back. "No lady would have that rotten of a personality!"

Kabukimon dodged another poop toss, jumping onto a high pipe. "Mina-chan, much as I loathe to admit it, they have us back into a corner. I simply can't compete with their knowledge of this maze of tubes!"

"Gyahahaha!! That's right! Tremble before our mighty might!" Geremon taunted, "You might as well just give up right now! Because nothing, not even a miracle, will save you from our-"

CRASH!

A thunderous noise erupted just behind where Geremon and Numemon stood, as the wall behind them came crumbling, burying them beneath a mound of debris, shards of glass and scattered Vegimon that had come tumbling out of the hole punched through the wall.

"Ashido-san!" called out Itsuka as Airdramon came flying into the sewer-like area, followed closely behind by Dobermon and Camie.

"AH-! Itsuka-chan! Utsu-senpai!" Mina happily called out, "Where did you guys come from!"

Airdramon landed nearby, Dobermon leaping onto a platform close to them as well. "The next room." Itsuka answered plainly, "Utsushimi-senpai figured it out; we're still inside the building, just caught in some kind of illusion!"

Camie held up her hands in a victory sign. "Do I know illusions, or what~!"

"Those mirrors let us know where the walls are; if we smash through them, we'll end up in another room." Itsuka continued to explain.

"We should be heading... that-a way~!" Camie pointed. "That'll take us towards the dining area; Kyou-chan and Yui-chan are there!"

"Are you sure about that?" Itsuka asked just to be safe, with Camie confidently nodding.

"I have a great sense of direction too, y'know~" she assured her. Looking over to the rubble of fallen foes, she jolted a bit, "Oh-! Look alive! They're getting back up!"

Itsuka looked over, seeing the plants and mollusks managing to get back on their feet. "Alright, let's get to it! Airdramon!" the dragon let out a roar at Itsuka's cry, charging ahead alongside Dobermon and Kabukimon towards their enemies yet again.

"Buzzing Fist!"

Nanimon's glasses flashed with expectation, and his hands moved quickly to deftly block Damemon's tonfa attacks. When Damemon tried to smash his weapon down on Nanimon's head, Nanimon crossed his arms together to block the tonfa's approach, then quickly pushed forward with all his might to throw his opponent off of him. "You-... Toying with a man's stomach is the most despicable thing you've done so far!!"

"They also tried to kill us." Kyouka said a bit incredulously.

"Sure, whatever." Nanimon responded back, "I won't forgive this either way! Poop Attack!" Nanimon rapidly spun his arms, tossing out a barrage of poop projectiles towards his equally-poopy foe, only for a group of Hagurumon to jump in front and take the smelly bullets for their leader.

As the battle raged on, Candmon struggled to push himself back on his foot. "Gnh...! Must... protect... Yui...! Gotta... hrnk... bash... and... smash...!!"

"Candmon..." Yui watched as her partner wrenched in pain, but still tried to get back up for her sake. She glanced up, seeing some Vegimon slowly approach, before looking back down at Candmon. Gently, she placed both her hands on the sides of his face, guiding him to look up at her.

"Y-Yui..." Candmon stared up at her, tears welling in his eyes, "I-I'm sorry... I can't... I can't protect you... I can't... even if I wa-HRKK!!" he was interrupted when Yui suddenly shoved her whole hand inside his mouth, and got it deep enough to get him to- "BLUUUUGH!! Cough! Blaugh! Yuck! Gross!! That-... hey... I actually feel way better now!" Candmon said as he jumped straight up onto his foot, "That worked, Yui! That was genius, think so fast on your feet like that!"

"Mh."

Kyouka could only stare in grossed out amazement. "Did she really plan for that to work..."

"HA HA HA! YES! YES! I CAN DO THIS! I CAN TOTALLY DO THIS! Watch me, Yui!" Candmon cheered as he faced the Vegimon with a twisted grin, "Candmon, Digivolve to MERAMON!!!" and with a flash of light, turned himself into a burning Digimon, howling and laughing madly as he began hurling fireballs wildly into anything that even resembled an enemy, getting the Vegimon to flee in a panic. "GWAH HA HA! POW! BOOM! I'LL BURN IT ALL UP FOR YUI!! GWAH HA HA HA!!"

And then- CRASH!!

A wall came down, and from it, RedVegimon came stumbling down and collapsed on a heap of rubble. "Th-...This ain't my dang-ol' day..." he grunted, just before Dobermon jumped right on top of him, stomping a paw on the plant's back.

Atop the giant hound, Camie just beamed as she saw Yui and Kyouka, waving at them with a cheerful: "Yui-chaaan! Kyou-chaaan! Need a hand~?"

Izuku was still very wary about following Mister Blue. The dragon had led them to a door standing upright in the darkness, seemingly leading nowhere, but actually opening it and stepping through revealed a medium-sized surveillance room, a wall covered in old CRT monitors showing the entirety of the inn, and the terrain outside.

"Is that what you wanted to tell us?" asked Izuku, only growing more worried for the others as he could see them separated in their own rooms, battling the other Chroma Army generals.

"Not exactly." the dragon tapped away on the keyboard, bringing up footage from earlier in the day of the Chosen approaching the inn. "There. See anything?"

Izuku and the Digimon blinked, stepping closer to get a better look, but nothing seemed that out of place.

"The trees." Mister Blue added, which finally got Izuku to notice the figure hiding among the greenery.

"That's... a bird?"

"Mister Brown, to be more exact." Mister Blue said.

"He's one of you then?" Izuku asked, and the dragon nodded affirmatively. "Then you've been spying on us this whole time?"

"See, that's the thing..." Mister Blue sighed, "We weren't told about this. I just happen to have a good eye for small details, and I spotted him watching over you. Under Boss Gray's orders, I'm willing to bet. That's why I don't wanna fight you; I wanna help you."

"H-Help!?"

"Because one of your comrades is following us...?" Bakomon said, confused.

"You're not making a whole lot of sense." Spadamon added.

"What a pain..." Mister Blue sighed, "Look, think what you want about me, but I'm no fool. I didn't join this gig just to have someone playing games with me. Mister Brown was told to keep an eye out on you, I'm certain of that, but none of us were informed about it. I don't care if it's my boss; I don't like people going behind my back. Best case scenario, Boss Gray doesn't trust me, so he can go to hell for that. Worst case, he's planning something he knows we wouldn't like. So, way I figure, it's better to stab someone in the back, than wait around to get stabbed instead."

Bakomon slumped slightly, still uncertain about all of this. "No honor amongst thieves, so they say..."

"Alright... say I believe you..." Izuku cautiously said, "How can you help us?"

"You're going to Header Town, right?" the dragon asked, "Well first, I can tell ya that's not going to happen; the whole area towards there is a warzone. Boss Gray's been trying to take over that place for over a month now, but they're a tougher nut to crack than the rest of the island. If you head there all carefree, you'll just find yourselves knee deep in the thick of things. If you want to get to Header Town, you're gonna have to throw a serious wrench in Boss Gray's whole operation."

Izuku frowned, but it was maybe a bit too optimistic of them to just assume they could reach Header Town and have everything go their way.

"You'll wanna attack the main base first, at the foot of Repeat Mountain." Mister Blue continued, before handing a flash drive over to the boy. "Here. Plug that into your friend's computer; you'll find the schematics for the base. That should help you come up with a plan. You're going to need all the help you can against Miss Purple."

"Miss Purple?" Izuku blinked.

"Yeah, she's a real nutjob. Practically worships the very ground Boss Gray walks on. She won't go easy on you guys if she finds you, so I'd watch out if I were you."

Spadamon eyed the dragon, still highly suspicious. "And how do we know you aren't working together, and this isn't another one of your traps?"

"You don't. Simples as that." Mister Blue grunted. "Take my help or don't; it's none of my business in the end."

Izuku looked down at the flash drive in his hand, still unsure whether to trust Mister Blue at his word. Like Spadamon said, for all they knew, they were just walking straight into another trap if they listened to him. He looked back up at the monitors, seeing the other Chosen burst down the walls into the dining room, and joining with Kyouka and Yui to battle the Chroma Army.

He didn't know what he would do later, but for now, he knew exactly what he should be doing.

"If you really want to help us..." he said, "Then you can start by letting me know how to reach Intelli-senpai!"

Mister Green kept his composure throughout the whole affair, but he was beginning to lose his patience. He'd laid out his offer to the girl for what felt like hours ago, and not only had she not answered him, she had actually started making requests.

"I can't very well accept a deal without properly analyzing all of the terms." she said.

"Thinking on my feet is just too tiring; a good sitdown on a comfy chair would surely help me decide much faster!" she said.

"Could I trouble you for a spot of tea as well? It really helps clear my mind." she said!

So now he was just left standing in silence, watching Saiko sit on her chair, her feet up on a footstool, sipping her tea as she read a book, and soft classical music played from a stereo close by; the very picture of "comfortable".

"Have you made up your mind yet!?" Mister Green asked through clenched teeth.

Saiko quietly hummed as she took a sip from her tea. "...no, not quite." she answered, much to Mister Green's ever-growing frustration. "I suppose there is only one more question I would have to pose, before I truly solidify my answer."

"And what question is that?"

She placed her tea down on its plate, setting it aside on the little table next to her chair. "If I am to agree with your conditions, and you actually succeed in aiding us, and we find our way back home... what of the inhabitants of the islands?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's a simple question." she said, "What will happen to them once we are gone?"

"Well... that depends entirely on them, I suppose~" he quietly chuckled. "The Chroma Army is here to stay, and should they cooperate, then we can surely coexist peacefully for many years to come!"

"And should they choose not to 'cooperate'?"

Mister Green's smirk twitched slightly. "In that case, we'll have to do what we must to ensure our operation runs smoothly, won't we?"

Saiko hummed. "Yes... I suppose you would..." was all she said, keeping a careful poker face before the Chroma Army general. "And this operation... you wouldn't happen to be able to tell me what it's all about, would you?"

"..." Mister Green remained silent, wide grin frozen on his darkening expression. "You're beginning to ask too many questions, my dear." he said in a noticeably threatening tone, "I'm starting to think you've made up your mind long ago, and are just trying to ring me out of information now~"

Saiko scoffed. "Merely starting to? You should have figured it out fifteen minutes ago!" she stood up from her seat, crossing her arms as she faced Mister Green. "Honestly, if this is the caliber of those working for your army, I highly doubt you'd have half the capabilities of helping us as you advertise! A Villain like yourself would never understand; even if it's at the cost of our own well-being and safety, a Hero must never back down when innocent lives are at stake!"

Mister Green was visibly taken aback, but the confused words out of his mouth in the end were: "A... Hero...?"

"Your attempts at courting me to your side were futile from the very start!" Saiko continued unabated, "So long as the Chroma Army continues to terrorize this land, mark my words: Intelli Saiko will not stand down and let you get away with it, even if she must sacrifice her way out of here! Because sacrifice is the mark of a Hero! And sacrifice-!"

CRASH!!

There was a loud noise of rubble being forced open, as the massive lion burst through the wall with all his strength.

"Intelli-senpai!"

"Intelli-san!!" Izuku and Bakomon called out from atop Liamon.

"About bloody time!" Saiko gratefully responded. "Have you any idea how long I've managed to stall this out!? I was running out of things to say, and was simply repeating myself!"

Mister Green watched this unfold, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "You...! You were just buying time until someone came to rescue you!?"

"But of course I was!" Saiko smugly answered while brushing aside her lengthy hair, "Did you really think I was actually indulging you with your attempts at swaying me? I could tell from the start you're one of those Villains who enjoy the sound of their own voice, and if nothing else, you were genuine in your desire to get us off your hair with as little hassle as possible. And while you so charmingly prattled on, you didn't even notice your own mirrors were reflecting my ticket out of here!"

Turning, Mister Green noticed the reflections on the mirrors behind him were showing the other Chosen, free from their illusionary prisons, and currently battling the rest of his forces.

"All I had to do was take advantage of all these pieces, and my formula of success was already decided!" Saiko proudly exclaimed. "My plan was simply to get you talking until someone came over to rescue me!"

If Mister Green had eyes, they would be twitching right about now. "YOU CALL THAT A PLAN!?" he shouted, "That is NOT a plan! That- That isn't even a concept! That is nothing more than luck!"

"Perhaps, but our last encounter with your associate Miss Black has taught me how dependable this motley crew I find myself in can be!"

Izuku blinked. "Uhm... thank you?" he wasn't really sure if that was a compliment or not, but he pushed that aside to hop off Liamon along with Bakomon, the two of them quickly rushing besides Saiko to protect her.

Meanwhile, Liamon let out a roar towards Mister Green, charging at him with a swipe of his paw. Mister Green, however, raised one of his arms and blocked the lion's attack with one of the mirror-like shields on his forearms. Pushing the lion's leg aside, Mister Green then jumped up with a spinning kick, forcing Liamon back as the foot connected with his head.

"You presumptuous little twerps!" Mister Green growled, "Very well, then! Don't say I didn't try to end this peacefully! It was you who chose death in the end!" leaping towards Liamon, Mister Green sought to punch the lion on top of his head, but Liamon jumped backwards in order to dodge the attack.

"Thunder Of King!" lightning gathered in Liamon's mane, before shooting out towards Mister Green, but the Mercuremon raised his arms, the lightning being sucked into the mirror shields and seemingly negated.

But then, one of the mirrors glowed- "Offset Reflector!" and a beam of yellow energy was launched straight back towatds the lion, blasting Liamon back and to the ground.

"Liamon!" Izuku cried out in concern over his wounded friend.

Mister Green grinned, before raising his other arm. "And here's the one from earlier back! Offset Reflector!" the mirror glowed red, launching another blast that struck hard against Liamon again.

Liamon pushed himself back up despite it, and launched himself to strike at Mister Green again with his powerful legs, but his opponent would once again block the repeated strikes with his shields, then immediately blast Liamon against withan even stronger Offset Reflector.

"He's absorbing Liamon's attacks, even down to kinetic energy being made by the force of the blows!" Saiko theorized, "No matter what Liamon does, he'll only be making Mister Green stronger!"

"And he's much too big to even dodge those energy blasts... oh no, this is awful!" Bakomon fretted.

"Well? Aren't you going to do something!?" Saiko turned to him, getting Bakomon to jolt. "Now would be a bloody good time for you to Digivolve!"

"W-What...? I-I would if... if I knew how to..."

"Oh, that is just terrific-!" but she jolted when Izuku suddenly sped right past them, and while she only caught a glimpse of it, the look on his face told her he was determined to make something work.

As Mister Green lined up another shot, he saw something approach him out the corner of his vision, quickly raising one of his shields to block a One For All empowered axe kick delivered by Izuku. "Foolishness!" Mister Green shouted before swinging his arm to smack Izuku aside, but the boy jumped off the mirror in time to avoid it. As soon as Izuku landed, he threw himself at Mister Green yet again, another potent kick being negated by the Mercuremon's mirror.

He would then land and throw himself at Mister Green yet again, then jumping off his shield, and his feet would land on one of the many mirrors floating around them. And then, jumping off again, he'd repeat this over and over again, the image of being on the receiving end of a very similar beatdown by an elderly Hero firmly planted in Izuku's mind, as he repeated Gran Torino's strategy.

Izuku jumped off as soon as another one of his attacks landed, just in time to see the glow of light flash on the mirror's surface, blasting out another energy beam to throw Izuku's attacks back at him. Only Izuku was much more nimble than a two meter tall lion, and he twisted his body midair in order to dodge the beam of energy with surprising ease. He threw himself into his plan once again, bouncing from mirror to mirror, striking Mister Green's shield over and over again, only for Mister Green to try and blast him with Offset Reflector and knock him off the air.

They might look like beams of light.., Izuku thought to himself, But they actually move much slower than I thought! More than that, the way Mister Green fires them is very predictable, he takes about two seconds to line up his shot; more than enough time for me!

Izuku landed and, once again, lunged at Mister Green with another flurry of kicks, before resuming his incessant jumping. A growl left Mister Green's throat, quickly losing his patience all over again with this pesky gnat. His shots became sloppier, being fired faster, but far less accurately, still making it easy for Izuku to avoid them. And just as Mister Green was at his boiling point-

"WILL YOU JUST STAND STILL ALREADY!?"

Izuku saw an irate Mister Green line up his shot.

Hero Analysis For The Future, No. 7; page 21...

The mirrors glowed, firing off the energy beam.

Reflect Hero: Prismaria. She can absorb energy through her hands, including kinetic, and fire it back like a ball of energy at her opponents...

Izuku waited before he leapt, but instead of going to the sides, he jumped upwards and behind one of the mirrors floating around the room.

This technique is incredibly powerful, but it has at least one weakness...

The energy blast hit the mirror just Izuku tilted it to aim it, and the blast bounced straight back in Mister Green's direction.

Should her attack be reflected back to her, then-!

Mister Green yelped in shock, raising his arms to block the attack. And then, there was an explosion, and the sound of glass shattering.

She can't absorb it a second time!

When Mister Green realized what had happened, he looked down at his shattered shield, and let out an anguished cry. "NOOOO!! My- my precious mirror!!"

It had been a major gamble, but it had payed off! "Now! Liamon!"

The lion pulled himself back to his feet, gathering electricity within its mane- "Thunder Of King!" before blasting it with a powerful roar towards Mister Green. In his despair, he didn't notice it until it was too late, the Chroma general being cut down by the attack, letting out a cry of pain as the lightning sent him flying straight into one of the larger mirrors, cracking the glass.

Liamon let out another mighty roar as he charged at full speed, slamming both paws onto the Mercuremon's chest, smashing through the mirror and the wall behind it, sending Mister Green tumbling off the second story of the inn, and collapsing into a heap on the ground below.

He let out a choked grunt, rolling onto his side in pain. "Cough... I-Impossible...!! I-I can't- I couldn't-...!" he snatched a broken shard of glass lying on the dirt, broadcasting his message through all of his mirrors inside the building: "Retreat...! R-Retreat!!"

Inside the dining room, as soon as Mister Green's message was heard, the battered and weary Misters Red and Yellow and their soldiers were not-so-secretly relieved. The mirrors in the room all glowed a powerful beam of light, completely engulfing not just the entire area, but the entire building in a brilliant beacon of light.

As soon as the light was gone, the room was back to normal, resembling an ordinary dining room once more, and all the enemies had vanished along with the peculiar concrete area.

For a moment, Kyouka held her breath as she expected something else to happen, and this was just a prelude to another trick... but when there was no follow up, she allowed herself to sigh in relief, followed by everyone else doing the same, and their weary Digimon allowing themseves to finally revert to their standard forms.

"Remind me... to kick my own ass next time I fight on an empty stomach!" Neemon said between huffs for air.

Kyouka stepped closer, giving the Digimon a pat on the shoulder. "You did good. Even if you only really added to the excessive amount of poop already being thrown around."

"Alright! We sent 'em packing!" cheered Mina. "You were great out there, Raurau-chan!"

"Raurau-chan?" Alraumon blinked before giggling, clearly appreciating the new nickname. "Thank you, Mina-chan!"

"D-Did you see me out there, Yui! Huff... puff..." Candmon said, "I- I was... like, pow! And... stuff like that... huff... gosh, I'm tired...!"

"Mmh..." Yui brimmed with relief, gently patting Candmon on the head.

"Thank goodness..." Itsuka could only sigh.

Dracomon groaned. "Itsukaaa... I'm hungryyy..." she moaned, before turning to see the giant table full of food still lying there. "Ah! Yay! Dracomon eats until she-"

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Kyouka and Candmon quickly warned her, Dracomon flopping onto her growling stomach as soon as she stopped.

"Hey, we still gotta check on the others!" Camie quickly reminded them. "Labra-kun, here." she scooped up the dog in her arms.

"Th-Thank you, Camie... I'm sorry for troubling you..."

"Shut up, you doofus! It's the least I could do for you after how hard you pushed yourself!" she then turned to the others, "We'll go ahead; catch up when you rest a bit!" she turned and quickly ran out the room without giving the others any chance to respond, already making her way up the stairs in record time.

"That... was exhausting..."

"You said it..."

Both Spadamon and Izuku sighed in relief, the adrenaline rush wearing off and letting them realize just how tired they both were after this whole ordeal. Izuku peeked out of the hole in the wall, but Mister Green was already long gone after that sparkling flash of light.

"Hmph! Good riddance to bad rubbish!" Saiko scoffed, walking over to the hole in the wall and kicking a piece of rubble. "Thank for the timely rescue, Midoriya-kun. You seem to have quite the knack for those, especially around me lately."

Izuku jolted a bit with a blush. "Wh-What? N-No, that's- That's not it-! Y-You make it sound like-!" he groaned as Saiko seemed to find amusement in his utter embarrassment.

"Heeey! Hey guuuuuys! Are you OK!?" Camie called as she slid into the room, still carrying Labramon, and saw a blushing Izuku with a tenderly smiling Saiko beside him. "...oooh, woopsie-doodles! Like, totes sorry! Didn't know we were interrupting a moment here~!"

Izuku and Saiko blinked, staring at Camie with the expression of two people who took way too long to figure out what she meant. But Saiko soon did so, her own face growing red with exasperation. "N-No! N-Now listen here, Utsushimi-kun! I will not tolerate this kind of cracks thrown my way!"

"Eeeh? So it's fine when Izu-kun tells a crack that makes you laugh, but not lil' ol' me?"

Saiko jolted, her face only growing redder. "W-Why you little-!!" she fumed like a tea kettle. Meanwhile, maybe Izuku was just too tired, but he still didn't quite get what was going on.

When he'd do so about three minutes later, he'd also start whistling like a tea kettle, just out of sheer mortification.

As all of this went down, Bakomon was keeping his distance from the others, even when everyone reconvened down in the lobby to figure out their next move. Once again, he'd been powerless to protect Saiko. He wanted to kick himself for leaving her alone in the first place, but the truth is... what would have even changed if he had been with her...

He couldn't keep going like this.

One way or the other, he had to Digivolve as soon as possible!

As the sunset painted the sky a beautiful orange, a small Digimon dutifully swept the fallen leaves out of the entrance into the humble little building they found themselves in front of. There was a simply sign signalling "Inn" next to the door, the small building having less than ten rooms, but it was tended to with love and care for many generations.

The small Digimon wore a purple dress, and her head resmebled an onion with eyes and mouth, the Burgamon cheerfully whistling a happy little tune.

She only stopped when she saw a group arrive, and put on her brightest smile for the weary travelers as they approached her humble inn.

"Howdy there, young'uns! You kids look like you need a darn good sleep! Me and my husband can fix you up a nice dinner, and we've got plenty of rooms available for-"

"We'll sleep outside, thank you!" the Chosen and their Digimon immediatelly answered.

Chapter Text

"Please, teach me how to become stronger!"

The Digimon blinked as Bakomon prostrated before them, exchanging a few looks of confusion.

"Bakomon, I don't think I quite follow." Labramon said.

"You wanna work out, huh?" Candmon laughed, "Hwah hah! That's the spirit! Let's build up your muscles until you're a stud, just like me!"

"Can Dracomon join too? Exercise is fun!"

"Yeah, yeah! Let's all workout together!" Candmon cheered.

"I'll pass, thank you." Neemon was quick to say, "The only exercise I need is sawing logs while I sleep."

"Guys, he's clearly talking about Digivolution." Spadamon got everyone back on track.

Alraumon blinked, looking at the box Digimon. "Is that it, Bakomon? You want to Digivolve too?"

Bakomon nodded as he lifted himself off the ground. "That is correct."

"Why this all of a sudden?" asked Labramon.

"Well, at first I thought I'd simply transform when the time was right, but..." Bakomon scratched his cheek, sounding a bit perturbed, "I've just been so useless lately, and I've decided enough is enough! I want to help Intelli-san, and everyone else too, and so I need to become stronger so I can fight alongside all of you!"

"Heehee! Sounding pretty cool there, Bakomon!" Alraumon giggled, getting the box Digimon to blush.

"Aah, is that all?" Candmon said, "That's easy then! Saiko just has to be in danger, right? Then you'll Digivolve for sure!"

Spadamon jolted a bit. "C-Candmon, you shouldn't say so casually!"

"Well, he has a point."

The Digimon looked over at Intelli Saiko, who sat on a thick root of a tree, the rest of the humans also sitting nearby either on rocks or on the grass as they all took the time to rest from their journey.

"All of the Digimon have evolved when one of us have been in great danger, so Candmon isn't wrong in suggesting that." she concluded her thought.

Izuku frowned slightly. "You really think that's the only way for them to evolve?"

"I have no idea." Saiko sighed as she admitted that. "But that has been the sole pattern thus far, so any other suggestion would only be a guess."

"See? Saiko said I was right!" Candmon proudly said. "So all we gotta do now is find some bad guys, and ZOW! We fight 'em! And when Saiko's put in danger, you can WOOSH! Swoop in and FLASH! Transform into a super cool new form!"

"I'd appreciate it if you weren't hoping to see me placed in a life threatening situation!" Saiko bristled. "Frankly, if that is the only way to trigger Digivolution, then I would much rather Bakomon remain as he is!"

Kyouka raised an eyebrow at this. "Kind of an odd thing to say for someone who wants to be Hero, don't you think?"

Saiko scoffed lightly at the comment. "Being a Hero doesn't inherently mean reckless abandonment! I'm well aware of the dangers involved, but my goal should always be to minimize the danger in every situation, not just to innocent civilians, but for other Heroes as well as myself."

Camie pursed her lips, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "But, like, at some point you just gotta throw all that carefulness out the window, y'know? You can't prepare for everything, and when that happens, you just gotta throw yourself right into danger!"

The other girl faced Camie with a blank expression, before scoffing again. "Perhaps most people can't prepare for every possibility, but I assure you, Intelli Saiko is not most people."

"...like, haven't most of your plans so far gone wrong in some way?" Camie dug the icy-cold knife right into Saiko's chest.

"You did almost get got by Miss Black twice, right? And you walked right into Mister Green's trap too." Mina joined the conversation just to further drive the blade in.

"Mh-mmh..." Yui nodded.

"Good thing Midori-kun is an ace when it comes to butting in when people need rescuing!"

Izuku chuckled, a bit embarrassed at Mina's comment. "Th-That's not... I wouldn't go that far..."

With an evil little smirk, Camie leaned forward with a very teasing tone, "Or maybe... you always planned on having Izu-kun swoop in and rescue you, is that it~?"

Both Izuku and Saiko jolted, their faces growing quite red simultaneously. "S-Stop saying such preposterous things!" Saiko quickly demanded, "I'm working with a handicap here! All of us are, what with our Quirks somehow being suppressed! Not to mention the tea quality here is far below what I tend to use..." she looked down at the tea she was currently drinking; the Burgamon couple had been kind enough to lend her some tea leaves, so she wasn't trying to criticize them on their choice or anything, it was just that her Quirk only functioned as well as the quality of tea she ingested, and tea this homely only gave her so much of a boost. "If I were running at full capacity with my Quirk, this whole Chroma Army business would have been going much more smoothly in our favor!"

"It's OK, Intelli-senpai." Itsuka tried to mediate some of the teasing, "There's only so much any of us can really do. We're still only students after all, I don't think anyone would expect us to hold out as long as we've had."

Saiko frowned slightly, focusing her attention back on her laptop. "Well, it sure feels like much is expected out of us right now..."

Izuku looked back at her. Naturally, he'd told everyone what Mister Blue had said to him, and handed Saiko the flash drive to decide what to do with it. Despite the risks, Saiko had figured they had little else to go off of, so they might as well see what's inside the flash drive, even if they don't trust Mister Blue to be speaking the truth. But he was doing so about at least one thing, as the flash drive offered Saiko a bunch of blueprints and files detailing the Chroma Army's main factory, as well as some information on the current state of their mission. "So, is there anything useful there after all?"

"Assuming we can trust any of this, there is plenty." Saiko said. "Having this much information about our enemy is any general's dream!"

"It's just the if we can trust it part that's the problem, right?" asked Kyouka.

Saiko sighed. "It's not even just that, I'm afraid. Even if we choose to trust this information, then that still means we're at a disadvantage. From the sound of things, it seems like the bulk of Chroma Army's forces are located on the other side of the island; they've besieged Header Town, but have made little progress in getting them to surrender. But while most of the army is there, that doesn't mean their main base was left unprotected. They have far more defensive measures than any of the factories we've took on so far, and more men to guard it. If we tried anything like we did against Miss Black, we would surely be crushed."

"Well, we're still gonna try, right?" Saiko looked over at Camie, who had a hopeful yet determined look in her eyes. "We can't just ignore what these Chroma jerks are doing to the people on the island! If there's any way we can help, it's totally our responsibility to do it!"

"That's much easier said than done..." Saiko added, "But I never said it was impossible either."

"Telli-chan has a plan~!" Mina chuckled excitedly, and while Saiko would be a bit annoyed at the familiarity being used, she did enjoy hearing someone be excited for her plans.

"Well, it's not a plan yet, but..." she cleared her throat, "From everything I've been reading, the biggest blow we can deal to the Chroma Army is completely shutting down their methods of communication. They have a complex, yet quite rudimentary communications system set up, and all of it is controlled by a master computer being held inside this factory. I believe it could be possible for me to devise a program on this laptop that, when installed onto the master computer, would render it inoperative! This would greatly hinder any of their attempts at coordinating their troops from then on. The only issue would be coming up with some way of getting inside the base to begin with, and maneuver in and out of it without being caught..."

"If anyone can do it, then it would have to be you, right Intelli-senpai?"

She looked beside her at Izuku, looking quite proud of herself with just a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "But of course! I'm certain I'll have something by sundown! Nothing stops an Intelli when they put their minds to it!"

Izuku smiled, Saiko's confidence easily rubbing off on everyone gathered there. They'd gone through more fighting the last few weeks than they'd ever expected to have to do so this early into their Hero studies, but their victories had helped embolden them, and helped them see through their future battles with more optimism. Not that there wasn't plenty of nervousness to go around, of course, as Izuku glanced aside at the looming clouds of black smoke that lingered just a bit too close for comfort. Whether they wanted to or not, they had been heading straight towards the Chroma base at the foot of the volcano.

And now, it seemed, they'd be marching right into it...

"Useless! Incompetent! Cough! Imbecilic!" Mister Green shouted, holding a handkerchief over his mouth. "I gave all of you the perfect chance to capture those wretched brats, and you- cough cough! You all mucked it up! You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"W-We're sorry, boss!" said Geremon.

"Yeah, we're sorry!" Numemon echoed.

The other generals, however, only barely tolerated the dressing down being given to them, only Mister Blue seeming indifferent to Mister Green's yelling.

"You didn't exactly perform admirably either, Green!" Mister Yellow scoffed.

"Yeah! You messed things up just as much as we dang-ol' did!" Mister Red accused.

"I only failed because you all failed!" Mister Green threw back at them with another cough. "Had you done your jobs correctly and kept the Chosen in my carefully devised traps, everything would've run smoo-"

"Yawn..."

Mister Green twitched as he stiffly turned to a tired Mister Blue. "I'm sorry, am I boring you?"

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but... yeah."

"You've got some nerve acting so nonchalant, when it was your failure that allowed that brute and his lion to attack me!" Mister Green fumed. "Where were you anyway!?"

"Me? I was out of there, obviously." the dragon shrugged.

"You abandoned your post, did you!? Ooh-ho, I bet Boss Gray will just love to hear that!"

"Hey, I know when I'm fighting a losing battle and to get the hell out of dodge." Mister Blue retorted, "That's why Boss Gray hired me in the first place; I don't take any unnecessary risks."

"Ooh, you think you're so- cough! You think you're so clever, don't you! That you can just — cough, cough! — pretty up your cowardly desertion with your sweet talk — cough! I'll make sure Boss Gray knows all about — cough, cough, COUGH!! AUGH! How I despise this foulness in the air!" he turned to the other figure in the room, "Can't you shut off these infernal machines for just ten minutes!?"

"I do not take orders from you, Mister Green." the stitched up figure firmly said. Clad in dark purple and beige patches, the figure resembled a battered teddy bear, apart from the sharp spikes that emerged from the seams on her suit. A respirator tube connected from her chest to her mouth, allowing her to breathe in despite the heavy smoke that filled the factory.

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Porcupamon

Level IV

Type: Puppet

Attribute: Wrathful

A wicked monster well adapted to living in harsh and extreme environments. Its sharp thorns sticking out from its leather hazard suit keep dangerous enemies at bay during its struggle for survival. Its special move, Madness Broach, shoots out its sharp quills to skewer its foes!

------

"As you've lost our factories, it is up to this base to pick up your slack, and manufacture more Gear Bugs for Boss Gray." she gruffly explained. "If you dislike your current accommodations, I would suggest you had taken your job more seriously in putting an end to the Chosen Ones."

Mister Green flinched, bristling at the puppet's tone. "This coming from the one who has yet to take over a measly village out in the boonies? You know what they say about glass houses, Miss Purple~" he taunted back. "We'll see how serious you can really get when those hellions come storming through your front door! They are far more powerful than any of us expected, so quit stalling! We need an urgent meeting with Boss Gray if we want to-"

"Boss Gray has no need to have his time wasted by the likes of you." Miss Purple quickly shot down his suggestion. "If the Chosen are heading this way, then let them come. My men will make short work of them."

Mister Yellow scoffed. "Oh, yeah, that sounds familiar!"

"Yeah!" Mister Red added, "That's what we all said before we got our dang-ol' butts handed to us!"

"The difference between you and me..." Miss Purple said, "Is that I do not play games. My job is to eliminate the Chosen, and I will ensure that will be their fate. For the success of the Chroma Army, and the glory of Boss Gray, that is what will be done!"

"Miss Purple! Come in, Miss Purple!"

Turning around, Miss Purple faced the monitor. "Mister Orange, what's your status."

"Another battalion's been sent to the front lines, but..." said the Fugamon, "They're holed up tight behind those walls. We really need some heavy troops if we want to punch our way through!"

Miss Purple grumbled. "Miss Black's failure cost us a valuable army of Kuwagamon..."

"Perhaps we could make use of the Saberdramon?" suggested Mister Green, somewhat cattily adding: "That is, if you're fine with taking the suggestion of someone  who's been 'playing games' all this time, as you put it."

She glanced at Mister Green but said nothing, only giving him a light grunt of displeasure at his attitude. "...that's not a bad idea. Mister Orange, gather a brigade and alert them; I'll be sending over a shipment of Gear Bugs, tell them to fall back and to use them to subjugate the Saberdramon."

"Roger!"

"And you will accompany them on your way back here."

"Eh? You sure you want me to leave?"

"For now, yes. The situation there won't change until we get the Saberdramon under our control, so you may as well assist us here."

"Very well! I'll gather the men, and head back to the base at once! Mister Orange, out."

Mister Blue tilted his head slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You're really convinced those brats are heading here, huh?"

"Of course." Miss Purple said, "It only makes sense. They've hit up all of our major sites already; why would they stop now."

"All the more reason to let Boss Gray know about this!" Mister Green again insisted. "I'm telling you, underestimating the Chosen will end just as poorly for you as it did us!"

"I am not underestimating them, Mister Green, I can assure you of that." Miss Purple said, "When they come, I will be more than ready. Their reign of terror will stop here, mark my words."

It had taken them a day's worth of walking in order to finally arrive, but it only took a handful of minutes for them to almost regret coming in the first place.

Thick black smoke lingered in the sky, pouring out of the smokestacks from the factory and blocking the Sun's light, washing the area in a pale and dim color. The pollution was so heavy that it poured down onto the ground in a thin dark smog, cutting down on visibility, but also making it very hard to breathe. Plant life was either in the process of, or had long withered and died, the once fertile volcanic land now dyed black and grey.

But their target was within sight, for better or worse, the imposing construct standing beneath the dismal fog. It was larger than any of the factories they'd come across thus far, and unlike those that had just recently been built, this one was not in any state of still being constructed. It was a solid monolith, surrounded by a lengthy fence and barbed wire; just as much of a fortress as it was a manufacturing complex.

The Chosen had set up their camp behind a small hill just beyond the factory, that offered them good camouflage as well as great visibility of their target. Saiko peeked out from behind their natural defensive wall, overlooking the courtyard with the help of her trusty spyglass.

"How does it look, Intelli-senpai?"

"Not great, I'll be honest." she answered Izuku with a frown. "The plans Mister Blue gave us appear to be accurate, at least on the outside, which both a good thing and a bad thing. I'll need time to observe if the guards' schedules sync up."

"Cough, cough, yuck...! Can't you hurry it up a little?" Mina asked, "I can just feel the lung cancer getting ready to move in!"

"The ground here feels gross..." Alraumon said, her sensitive roots clearly sensing the foulness that polluted the land.

Saiko rolled her eyes at this. "I can't very well just walk up and ask them when the next changing of the guard is going to be, now can I! Just deal with it!"

"Are we sure about this plan?" Itsuka cautiously wondered, "It seems riskier than anything we've pulled so far..."

"It isn't perfect, but it's what we've got to work with." Saiko's answer didn't much put her at ease.

"It's OK, Itsuka! Dracomon will protect you!" the little dragon assured her, which did bring a smile back on the girl's face.

"Still, will you guys really be OK?" Kyouka wondered, "Wouldn't it be safer to bring at least one more person along?"

"Too many people and we're at greatest risk of being found out." Saiko said as she kept a watchful eye over the enemy base, "Utsushimi-kun, Midoriya-kun, Labramon, Spadamon and myself will suffice."

"...u-uhm..." Bakomon squirmed a bit awkwardly, "I-I'm coming too, Intelli-senpai..."

"Hm?" she blinked. "Oh. Right, I suppose you are." she seemed completely unaware of the box Digimon flinching at how flippantly she said that. "The six of us will take advantage of the blind spot in the changing of the guards; assuming everything is in order, by following a specific path, we'll have a ten minute window to arrive to the computer room."

"Wouldn't it be safer if I went in alone?" asked Izuku, "If you tell me where to go through the walkie-talkie, then-"

"Yes, but you'd still have to install the program into their main computer." Saiko explained, "Unfortunately I was working with rather outdated software; the program I made isn't automatic, and requires some manual configuration. It'll be much faster if I'm there to do it, considering I created the program in the first place. You're mainly just coming with us for extra muscle, just in case something goes wrong."

Izuku frowned, but he didn't feel insulted at being called "just muscle", he was glad to help in any way he could. He was just disappointed the others still had to put themselves in danger, is all.

"And I'll be there to cover all our butts once we split outta there~!" Camie cheerfully added. "I'll pull out all my best illusions!"

"I'm sure you'll do great, Utsushimi-senpai."

"Camieeeeeee!!" she whined at Izuku, who quickly blushed and stammered at her insistence.

"Whatever happens, we'll be there to protect you." Labramon nodded with conviction.

"That's right. We'll fight our way out with all our strengths, if we must!" Spadamon said.

"Guess all we can do is hang back, in case stuff goes sour." Kyouka mentioned, as part of the plan was, if they were found out, the remaining eight would have to cause a big enough distraction outside the factory so they could get away.

"Yeah, so make sure ya don't muck it up, will ya?" Neemon requested, "I'd love to be able to say mission accomplished without actually havin' to lift a finger."

Kyouke glanced at him coldly. "You really know how to rally people together with your optimism."

"It's a gift~" he lazily replied.

"Hey! Hey! We'll give 'em heck if we have to!" Candmon cheerfully exclaimed. "We'll blast 'em! And mash 'em! And wham 'em! They won't know what hit 'em!"

"Mh..." was Yui's passionate contribution.

"L-Let's still hope it doesn't come to that, right?" Mina said, not sharing in the candle Digimon's excitement. "If Intelli-chan and the others can get out of there without hassle, then that's better for all of us! Right, Raurau-chan?"

The flower took a moment to think about it, but quickly nodded. "Right! You're so smart, Mina-chan!"

As the conversation happened around her, Saiko kept her eyes on the enemy base, and more specifically, the guards she saw patrol the courtyard. It worried her that these looked nothing like the Hagurumon they fought before; the fact they carried actual guns was certainly a great cause for concern. They resembled blue dinosaurs dressed in dark blue military body armor, and despite not being that much taller than any of their Digimon, they carried themselves like professional soldiers; more what you'd expect from an army than the often-bumbling Hagurumon, that's for sure.

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Commandramon

Level III

Type: Cyborg

Attribute: Wrathful

An infantry Digimon belonging to a group of mechanized Dragon-type Digimon. The surface of its skin as been augmented to be able to display a variety on camouflage patterns in an instant, allowing it to sneak up on its targets undetected. It throws small DCD Bombs to force enemies out of their hiding place, and then guns them down with cherished rifle, M16 Assassin.

------

As she watched the Commandramon head its way towards the guard outpost, she quietly muttered: "One seventy seven, one seventy eight, one seventy nine..." she nodded. "Three minutes, precisely. Just as the schedule said." dropping down from her lookout point, she faced the rest of the group. "Alright, that's that, then. In about sixty minutes they'll change the guards again, and that's when we make our move. Steel yourselves during this time, everyone."

Everyone suddenly felt the pressure in their chest. As easy as it was to talk about things like these, when it came time to actually perform, they could be forgiven for being nervous. Saiko and Camie had the most experience out of all of them, so they were dealing with this better than most, but even they couldn't fully brush away those butterflies in their stomachs.

It's one thing to tackle Villains under the guidance of a Pro Hero. But they were pretty much signaling the start of a war.

And unbeknownst to any of them, a lone figure watched them from atop a black hill...

The Commandramon dutifully guarded his post, weapon at the ready. Standing there for an hour, the dragon didn't show any signs of fatigue, but to ensure the guards were fully alert and rested, he'd soon pack up his things and leave his post, leaving his duty for the next guard to take his place as they rotated positions.

The guards change their position every sixty minutes. A new guard will come in less than a minute after the change occurs; however, they will need to perform a set of checkups on the area. This will last another two minutes before they settle on their position guarding the perimeter.

And it was at this moment that six figures moved under the cover of the smog-filled air, traversing the field of barbed wired fences.

The path to the fence is riddled with barbed wire defenses, but I've analyzed the map thoroughly and discovered a safe path through them. If we move fast, we should be able to beat the clock by a few seconds.

Saiko had fully memorized the fastest and safest path to take, allowing them to reach the main fence surrounding the factory in under the three minutes schedule. They then ducked behind a small mound which served as a blind spot in the guards' patrol, just as another Commandramon arrived at their post.

We'll have to wait another hour while hiding just outside the enemy base's perimeter. It's less than optimal, but it's what we have to work with. There shouldn't be any patrol that wanders by, but we'll be relying on Utsushimi-kun's illusions to keep us hidden when the guard change happens again, as the new one will walk past our position.

At the end of the hour, another Commandramon made her way over to the guard post. She glanced past the fence on her way over there, but saw nothing but dead grass and stones. As soon as she left, those stones would fade into mist, and the infiltration party would get back to work.

Next, Spadamon will cut the fence and get us all inside. Once we do, we'll have to move according to the patrols' movements.

Slicing open a small hole in the fence with his trusty sword, Spadamon was the first to sneak inside the factory's perimeter, soon followed by the others. Their first course of action was to dash towards a shed nearby, using it as a hiding place while they waited for the next opportunity to move.

Luckily, the patrols are under a tight schedule as well, so I've done my best to memorize their movements. However, it's still very likely we'll have to play it by ear for much of the journey.

Sprinting across the courtyard, the group did what they could to avoid the eyes of the patrolling Commandramon. When it was harder to do, they'd rely on Camie to hide them among the fog for precious few seconds until they could reach their next hiding spot. Stacks of boxes, barrels, these things were they great allies in this dangerous mission.

Getting inside the factory itself isn't going to be any easier. The usual entryways have too much visibility, and any back doors will likely be locked. We'll have to gamble on one of the windows being open.

Izuku stood back to the wall before cupping his hands together, letting Saiko step onto them so he could give her a boost. The windows into the factory were positioned quite high, but thanks to One For All, it wasn't hard for Izuku to raise Saiko up towards them. She pushed against the window, but no luck; it was closed shut, so Izuku just shimmied over to the next one, and the one after that until they found an unlocked window. Luckily, third time's the charm, and an extra boost helped Saiko slip in through the window. She gave the signal that the coast was clear, and all Izuku had to do was help everyone else up there (while being extra cautious not to look up when it was Camie's turn), and then use One For All to jump up to the window by himself.

They'd made it in.

They found themselves in a dark room filled with boxes and shelves, and most importantly, devoid of any guards. Saiko quickly headed towards the door, pushing it slightly ajar to get an idea of the path ahead. She had a good idea of where they were, having fully memorized the layout of the factory, and with the way forward unimpeded by guards, she quickly urged the others to head further into the bowels of the factory.

Dark hallway after dark hallway, they managed to sneak past the Commandramon guards, and even the occasional Hagurumon worker, as they headed deeper into the center of the factory. There were a few close calls that forced them to backtrack, but they were soon back on the move, traversing catwalks and hallways until, finally, coming across a staircase.

"Alright, the computer room should be right upstairs." Saiko said, a bit of confidence returning to her voice. "Utsushimi-kun, you guard the entrance. If you see anyone coming, let us know."

"Roger!" Camie saluted. "Let's keep our eyes and ears wide open, Labra-kun!"

"I won't let anyone sneak up on us, Camie." the dog nodded.

With that, Saiko, Izuku and their Digimon dashed up the stairs, and found themselves before a set of double-doors. Carefully opening them, when they saw the room was empty, they quickly stepped inside with renewed positiveness. Izuku and Spadamon stayed outside the doorway to guard it, while Saiko and Bakomon made a dash for the large control panel attached to a multitude of monitors.

However, as soon as she started pushing buttons, something felt wrong- "It's turned off? But... why would they do such a thing!" no matter what she pressed, the console wouldn't show any signs of turning itself back on.

"Maybe it's not plugged in...?" Bakomon wondered, earning him a slight stare from Saiko.

"Why in blazes would it not!?" she bristled back, obviously not expecting an answer.

"Because perhaps we already expected you."

She got an answer anyway.

Izuku was immediately on edge, looking all around him in search of the source of that voice; so focused was he that he nearly missed-

"Izuku!" Spadamon shouted before the doors to the room closed shut with a slam, immediately after a green blur had slipped past them.

His body had pretty much moved entirely on its own out of instinct the moment he saw the doors closing, and the only thought crossing through his head was to not leave Saiko and Bakomon trapped alone inside. "Intelli-senpai!" he called out to the girl, who quickly started to make her way over to him along with Bakomon, but then a burst of black smoke poured out from a grate in the ground, cutting off her run.

"Th-This was a trap!?" Bakomon shouted.

"Not again-!!" Saiko angrily said as she covered her mouth, the black smoke beginning to slowly fill the room.

"Indeed." the calm voice replied, "I apologize for the deception, but I've no intention of failing in my mission. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Miss Purple, your executioner."

"Y-You planned this all along, didn't you!?" Saiko shouted.

"Not necessarily. You see, I was aware that someone had accessed several sensitive files about this factory. Floor plans, schedules... I'll admit, I don't know how you did it, but I commend you for it nonetheless. Once I realized this, I knew it could only mean you were planning an attack; after that, it was a matter of deduction that you would attempt to bring down our communications system through the main terminal. It was an obvious, if amateurish, move." Miss Purple taunted, much to Saiko's frustration. "Disconnecting the terminal is an easy enough countermeasure against such an assault; a more expert tactician would've known to sabotage the server room directly."

Saiko trembled with rage at being insulted, but worse, because she couldn't exactly say Miss Purple was wrong.

Izuku pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose, hoping to get some of the smoke away from his lungs, even if only for a while. "S-So that's it? You're just going to choke us to death with smoke!? Cough! Isn't that a bit simplistic?"

"Not quite." Miss Purple responded, "I don't believe in leaving things half-way."

Just then, the sound of a hatch opening was heard, as a large figure dropped down from a vent in the ceiling. It didn't take long for Izuku to recognize the muscular orange figure wielding a large club, even if they were now adorned with a clear gas mask over their face.

"Gahahah! Did ya miss me, ya brats!?" Mister Orange cackled from behind his mask's visor. "It's payback time for how you humiliated me!" he aimed his bone club right at Izuku, "I'll make sure this room becomes your grave!"

"They've been in there for a while now..." Itsuka worriedly pointed out.

"Yeah, and no word from them either." Kyouka frowned slightly.

Itsuka hummed uncomfortably, looking down at her walkie-talkie. "Intelli said to keep radio silent for at least fifteen minutes, but-"

"Guys! Guys, come in!"

"Ah-! Utsushimi-senpai!" Itsuka quickly responded to the distressed call. "What's happening, is everything alright?"

"No! Not at all! We're in big trouble! Super trouble! Izu-kun and Saiko-chan and Bako-kun, they're trapped inside the room!"

"Dammit, it was a trap after all!" Kyouka said.

"Boy, we are not very good at this..." Neemon said, scratching his head.

"We go..." Yui was quick to say.

"Yeah! Yeah! Let's bust 'em outta there! Let's- uhh... eh?" Candmon blinked, clearly noticing something was amiss.

Something they all quickly noticed to, as all around them, Commandramon emerged from their hiding places and surrounded them, aiming their rifles.

"N-No way..." Kyouka trembled, as Neemon quickly raised his hands up.

A Commandramon let out a short scoff. "Miss Purple says none are to be left alive. Take 'em down!"

"Guys? Guys? Are you-!!"

Camie's voice died in her throat as she heard the sound of gunfire and screams, before the walkie-talkie quickly went silent. "..." her hand squeezed around the walkie-talkie as she took in a deep breath, quickly turning to face Spadamon and Labramon who were trying to pry open the doors. "Labra-kun! Spada-kun! We've been found!"

"But Izuku's still there!" Spadamon argued.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but we gotta stick to Saiko-chan's plan!" Camie insisted, and while Spadamon definitely didn't like it, he couldn't argue against it either, so he nodded to let her know he'd follow. The trio quickly turned and began rushing down the stairs, but just as they did so, a group of Commandramon came rushing out from around the corner.

"Look! Intruders!"

"Where did they come from!?"

"Intruda window!" shouted Camie. "Labra-kun!"

"Labramon, Digivolve to-!" a quick flash of light transformed the small dog into a giant hound, which barreled straight into the Commandramon to throw them aside, "DOBERMON!"

Camie quickly jumped onto Dobermon's back, catching Spadamon who jumped into her arm next, before they charged down the hallway, blasting away any Commandramon who rushed in to check on the commotion.

"Heavy Swing!" Mister Orange's bone club smashed a crater on the metal floor, but his targets had already been swept out from his attack's path.

Izuku slid to a halt as he placed down Saiko and Bakomon after his sudden rescue. "Intelli-senpai, I'll hold him off as best as I can! Find a way out of here!" before giving her a chance to argue, Izuku had already charged towards the Fugamon to land a full-strength kick to the monster's arm, but Fugamon easily shrugged it off and swung his club to swat Izuku away, narrowly missing the boy.

"R-Right! A way out! Cough! A-A way out...! Cough!" Saiko felt her throat burning from the smoke that still poured into the room, taking out a handkerchief to cover her mouth and nose as she desperately look around her. But the answer quickly came to her as she looked up, and saw the vent that Mister Orange had jumped down from. "There! Bakomon! Use your- cough! Your tape! Throw it up there!"

"Right away, Intelli-san!" Bakomon quickly jumped in, "Gum Roll!" he tossed ribbons of duct tape that attached themselves to the vent's grating, but when he tried to pull, the tape just tore up from the force. "A-Ah! O-Oh no! I-I'm sorry, Intelli-san! I-I dont-..."

"Tape it together! Cough!" Saiko quickly said, "Make a rope out of it! A thick one!"

"R-Right! Gum Roll!" Bakomon did as told, tossing out multiple sets of duct tape that coiled over one another, over and over, until they formed a sturdy rope. He then tossed the rope back up, but missed the grate entirely. His second attempt saw him attach the rope onto one of him Gum Roll attacks, and this time the tape rope hit its mark, looping around the grating. "I-I got it! I got it, Intelli-san!" he quickly moved the rope so that the other end of it would lower down, allowing both Bakomon and Saiko to grab on to each end.

"Now, pull!" the girl ordered, as her and Bakomon pulled with all their might to try and pry open the grating.

Meanwhile, Izuku continued to play keep away with Mister Orange, ducking, weaving and jumping over each powerful swing of the monster's club. Izuku knew if he were hit just once, he'd probably get at least one broken bone, if he was lucky, so he was determined to not let that thing even graze him. Dodging another attack with a backflip, Izuku pushed himself into the air and jumped over one of the vents pouring smoke into the room. When he landed he kept moving his feet, and just as Mister Orange made his approach, Izuku quickly swung his leg with a roundhouse kick, not to strike at the Fugamon, but to force the thick smoke right into the monster's face with the wind form with his kick, and temporarily blind him.

"W-What the-!?" Mister Orange swung his club wildly, but got nowhere near Izuku as the boy had jumped towards a wall, and gained further altitude by leaping off of it, high above Mister Orange. "Manchester SMASH!!" he swung down a powerful axe kick right onto Mister Orange's head, hearing the cracking noise of glass he'd hoped to hear.

Mister Orange let out a shriek of surprise and a bit of pain, but he didn't get really worried until he started feeling the stinging in his throat. "W-What the...!? M-My mask! You broke my- cough! COUGH! You damn brat, you broke my m-mask!" he coughed and wheezed, quickly feeling the effects of the smoke that was all around him. "M-Miss Purple! Q-Quit it with the smoke already, Purple! C-Can't ya see I'm- cough! I'm chokin' over here!"

Silence.

"M-MISS PURPLE!"

A frustrated sigh was heard through the intercom, before the ventilation kicked in, the smoke quickly beginning to thin out as it got sucked out of the room through the various ventilation shafts that had been blowing the smoke in just a minute ago.

Mister Orange took deep gasps of air, still coughing, but just relieved he could actually breathe now. "Ugh... cough... thank goodness..." he ripped the broken gas mask off his face, tossing it aside with a grunt. "Alright, now, where were- eh? Hey! Where'd ya go!?" he looked around just before he heard the noise of metal bending and breaking. Quickly turning around, he'd find Izuku had just helped Saiko and Bakomon pry open the grating in the ceiling. "H-Hey! I'm not finished with you!"

"Quick! Hang on!" Izuku said and he grabbed to Saiko and Bakomon, putting all of his strength into his legs for a massive vertical leap straight to the opened vent. Unfortunately, Mister Orange jumped right behind them, grabbing hold of Izuku's leg. Just before the ogre yanked him down, Izuku managed to awkwardly but effectively throw Saiko and Bakomon up enough that they could grab on to the opened vent.

Saiko flinched as she heard Izuku collide against the metal floor, looking down from where she hung. "Midoriya-kun!"

"Intelli-senpai, go!" he painfully shouted from the ground despite his aching body, kicking against Mister Orange's leg to keep the monster from chasing after the others.

"B-But, Midoriya-kun, you'll-"

"I'll be fine!" he glanced up at her, giving a shaky smile as he stood back up. "It's why I came along, right? In case things went bad? Don't worry about me, I can handle this!"

"Midoriya-san..." Bakomon looked very conflicted about leaving the boy alone against such a monster, but when he saw Saiko climb up onto the vent, the Digimon had no other choice but to follow her.

"Rrgh! You brats really don't know when to just give up, do ya?" Mister Orange grunted. "Well, whatever; you're just makin' it easier for me to kill you!"

Izuku probably didn't look nearly as calm and composed as he would've liked to. Truth be told, he was a little scared, actually. But still his stance grew more solid, his fists clenched, and he readied himself just as Mister Orange charged straight towards him.

As the last of the sakura petals fell, Kabukimon was left standing amidst a pile of unconscious Commandramon. She held a hand close to her chest, before dramatically thrusting it in front of her. "Punishment delivered."

"And you are quite welcome~" Mina chuckled as she put her hands on her hips.

"Kabukimon did all of the work though, didn't she?" Dracomon innocently asked, much to Mina's awkwardness.

"Still, if Intelli-san hadn't told one of us to stay hidden, that could have been the end of us." Itsuka sighed in great relief.

"No time to rest just yet." Kyouka quickly took point, "The others need our help!"

Yui looked over the mound with the spyglass Saiko had left with them. "Commotion..." she pointed out, as even without the spyglass one could see the Commandramon in the courtyard rushing back and forth, heading towards the factory in a hurry.

"Then let's head out! Everyone; Digivolve!"

The Digimon all nodded at Kyouka's command, quickly glowing with power.

"Dracomon, Digivolve to-!"

"Candmon, Digivolve to-!"

"Neemon, Digivolve to-!"

"Schwarz Strahl!" Dobermon blasted another group of Commandramon that fired upon him. They were quickly replaced by another group, forcing Dobermon to take cover behind a large machine as they opened fire on him.

Camie blew out more of her illusionary mist, making it so a very crude drawing of Dobermon would dash out from their hiding place. Despite its crude nature, it did its job as the Commandramon focused their fire on the illusion, mistaking it for the real thing in the heat of battle. This gave Dobermon the opening he needed to blast them all with another blast of dark energy from its mouth, and continue on its way.

Or at least, were it not for a large group of Commandramon to then fill up the hallway, the extra troops from the courtyard having just arrived, all of them aiming their guns at Dobermon and preparing to fire before-

CRASH!!

"OH YEEAAAHH!!!" Nanimon came crashing through the wall, distracting the Commandramon. "Poop Dunk!" Nanimon summoned a large pink poop above his head, before slamming it down onto the tightly-packed Commandramon, trapping several of them in like flies under a glop of pudding.

Another crash was heard, Airdramon slamming in through another wall, unleashing Tornado Fire onto their enemies. Quickly following behind her was a madly-cackling Meramon, who proceeded to indiscriminately hurl fireballs at just about anything the moved in his field of vision, with Kabukimon joining the fight immediately after, confusing their foes with her blizzard of pink petals.

"Utsushimi!" Kyouka called out as she and the other girls jumped in through the hole in the wall left by Nanimon. "Where are the others?"

"Still trapped, but we're following Saiko-chan's plan!"

Kyouka nodded. "Right, we'll handle things out here then!"

"I'll help!" Spadamon jumped down from Dobermon, "Camie-san! Please, save Izuku!"

Camie looked down at the lion with a determined smile on her face. "I'll get everyone back safe and pretty; don't you worry your cute lil' head! Let's go, Dobermon!"

The giant hound dashed down the hallway through the chaos of the battle, running as fast as he could towards his destination.

And among that chaos, a lone figure dashed from shadow to shadow undetected...

"Intelli-san, should we really have left Midoriya-san alone back there...?" asked Bakomon as they crawled through the (rather spacious, thankfully) vents.

"What do you expect either of us to do? We would've only slowed him down if we stayed there." Saiko stated, "The best way we can help Midoriya right now is by heading to the server room. There must be a second terminal there that wasn't on the files so that Miss Purple can control these traps."

"Are you sure we're heading the right way?"

"Of course I'm sure! I am Intelli Saiko; I memorized every inch of the blueprints for this place!, the last thing I need right now is your doubting!"

Bakomon flinched. "S-...Sorry, Intelli-san..." he wilted, as he always did.

If there's something you want to tell intelli-senpai, then you should talk to her about it.

He shook his head. Why did he have to think about that now? This was hardly the time or the place! He kept quiet, following Saiko until she came to a stop.

"Here!" she scooted over to the grating, kicking down on it with her foot, Bakomon quickly joining in. The metal bent and shrieked, until they finally managed to kick it off its hinged, opening the path into another dark, and rather cramped hallway, awash with red lighting. One the walls traveled numerous cables, and many pipes traversed the length of the hallway, giving it a very unfinished look compared to the rest of the factory.

"Which way do we go now?" Bakomon wondered, as the hallway headed in two different directions, with no helpful signs pointing to the terminal.

"Shh!" Saiko shushed him, closing her eyes as the listened attentively. She could feel the rumble beneath her feet; signs of the battle raging outside those walls. If she focused hard enough, she could hear the gunfire and explosions as well, seemingly being louder when coming from their right. In that case, if the second terminal was kept somewhere safe and deeper in the factory- "Left!" she immediately turned and started running, Bakomon jolting as he was nearly left behind.

They ran as fast they could, following the hallway deeper into the bowels of the factory. Eventually the cramped hallways widened, leading into a fork in the road.

"Damn it all!" Saiko shouted in frustration as she slid to a halt. "Left, right, center... aaaugh, th-this is hopeless!"

"Intelli-san, don't say that! I-I'm sure you'll find the right answer!"

"How!?" she shouted back, "I can't just guess; that would waste us too much time! I'm already wasting time just standing here, not knowing what to do! I can't work like this! It's useless! I-i don't what to choose!"

"But you have already chosen... death!"

The voice gave neither of them time to react, before an arm burst out from the ground beneath, a clawed hand gripping around Saiko's ankle and digging its sharp nails in deep. Saiko barely had time to scream before Miss Purple fully emerged from the floor, sweeping Saiko off her feet and hanging her upside down on just the one leg she gripped.

"Tiresome little creatures... I can see why you broke Miss Black into treason with this annoying persistence of yours. I can see how it could drive most people quite crazy..."

"Intelli-san! I'll save-ghoof!" Bakomon was casually swatted aside by Miss Purple as he tried to charge her.

"Unfortunately for you, I am made of much sterner stuff than either of these fools calling themselves Chroma generals." Miss Purple continued unperturbed. "For the glory of Boss Gray, I will put an end to this disease once and for-"

"Transdelivery!!" Bakomon shouted as he hurled summoned cardboard boxes at Miss Purple, bothering her just enough to get her to raise an arm to shield herself against the onslaught. Quickly Bakomon stepped to miss Purple's side, jumping up as he summoned an extra-large box to try and dunk it on her head and blind her- "Hrkk!" only for his assault to be interrupted, Miss Purple having let go of Saiko, and instead used her clawed left arm to grab hold of Bakomon by the throat.

Miss Purple clicked her tongue, only sounding slightly more annoyed than before. "Is this really how badly you wish to die? Then so be it. Human or Digimon, as long as you perish, you won't be able to infect this world any longer." she tightened her grip on Bakomon's throat, ready to crush its with her bare hand, before her vision suddenly went blank.

"BAKOMON!" Saiko's hand grabbed the box Digimon's arm, yanking him free from Miss Purple's grasp and into her arms, before she suddenly turned and started to run down one of the paths ahead of them.

Miss Purple let out a growl of frustration, quickly ripping apart the box Saiko had dunked over her head to momentarily distract her. "Madness Broach!" she aimed her arm, shooting out the quills that pierced out of her hazard suit, sending them flying until they sliced through Saiko's clothes and skin, failing to stab her only by sheer miracle, but still sending her falling to the ground.

"I-Intelli-san...!" Bakomon tried to get back up, only for Saiko to then shove something in his arms. The flash drive.

"B-Bakomon... take it! Take it, and run!"

"W-What!? B-But, Intelli-san, I can't-"

"You were looking over my shoulder the whole time, listening to me prattle on about the program I made... you're the only one other than me who knows how it works!" Saiko insisted. "You have to do this! For everyone else's sake, just leave me, and GO!"

"In-...Intelli-san..." Bakomon looked past her, and to the approaching Miss Purple. He gripped the flash drive tightly between his fingers... and then gently placed it back in Saiko's hand. "I'm sorry, Intelli-san. I can't do that."

"B-Bakomon...! Th-That's an order, you...!"

"Intelli-san, there's something I've wanted to say for a while now..." the box Digimon stood up, walking past her to stand between her and the approaching Miss Purple. "Intelli-san, I know you don't think very highly of me. Ever since we've met, you've been distant, and to be quite frank, I don't blame you. I think a part of me was fine with a distance. You can be rude, standoffish, and really, really pigheaded, and I think I was afraid... but Intelli-san, you're still my partner! If this is the person you are, then that's the person I will accept! Because that person is you! The person I will stop at nothing to protect!"

Saiko's eyes widened, before a brilliant light overcame her. Miss Purple stopped in her track, the holy light growing so fast and so strongly in intensity, it blinded her.

"Bakomon, Digivolve to...!!!"

The light overwhelmed Bakomon, completely covering his body. The small and frail figure grew in size, gaining musculature and armor; a set of four hoofed legs emerged from the boxes, and two well-developed arms that ended in thick hands, the right hand growing into a metallic cannon; a set of ducts pierced out from his back, and a helmet covered the centaur's head, a single red eye shining bright from within the visor as he glared at the Porcupamon.

"KENTARUMON!"

Miss Purple gasped, stepping back as she witnessed the centaur that now stood before her. "It... can't be...!"

"Ken...tarumon...'" Saiko could only stare in amazement at her partner's evolution; that this figure filled with such a powerful aura could've once been Bakomon... it was almost inconceivable to her!

"Intelli-san, you must hurry." Kentarumon said with a calm yet firm voice. "You're the only one who can finish this. I'll hold Miss Purple off."

Saiko was still astonished by all of this, but for once, she didn't feel the need to say anything. Wounded leg or otherwise, she got to her feet, and dashed down the hallway, no longer worrying about whether she had made the right choice or not. "...KENTARUMON!" she shouted back at him, "YOU HAD BETTER NOT LOSE, YOU HEAR ME!?"

Beneath his helmet, Kentarumon chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of letting down the great Intelli Saiko-san!" he then faced Miss Purple again, his stare alone sending chills down her spine. "Now... will you approach me? Or do the smart thing, and turn away?"

"You... you really think you can intimidate me!?" Miss Purple growled. "I am Boss Gray's most trusted! His executioner! I am the arms of his Will, and his Will is my command! To cease your poisoning of this world, all of you must die!"

"You speak nothing but nonsense." Kentarumon retorted. "You and your ilk destroy lives, enslave those weaker than you, and you still claim we are the poison afflicting this land?"

"...heh... heheheh... heeheehahah! HAHAHEHAAHAAHEEHEEHEEH!!" Miss Purple cackled, her arms swaying limply at her side. "For the good of all, the few must be sacrificed... that is Boss Gray's Will! That which will lead this world into its salvation! Are you truly so selfish you cannot see this!? That you would stand in its way!?"

"What I see are madmen who delude themselves into believing that their might makes right. If salvation must trample over the meek, then I'll be there to bring its path of destruction to a halt."

"You are a fool for thinking you can stand in our way!" she charged forward, bearing her claws.

"And you have lost all reason." Kentarumon raised his arm, the cannon extending as crackling energy gathered into a black ball, before being fired with incredible power. "Hunting Cannon!"

Miss Purple only narrowly dodged the blast, the energy ball still singing her right arm as it grazed past her. She swung her vicious claws up at Kentarumon, but he blocked it with the chain wrapped around his left wrist, before raising his body to kick her with his front hooves, forcing the puppet Digimon backwards.

Miss Purple let out a short cry of pain and anger, before crossing her arms in front of her. "Madness Broach!" she spread her arms just as fast, launching out her blades from her entire body, only for Kentarumon to swiftly evade the projectiles by jumping from side to side, the ducts on his back expelling high-pressure vapor to help him zigzag at incredibly speeds as he approached Miss Purple, rapidly turning around to kick her with his hind legs, forcing her backwards into the wall with another cry of pain.

This did little to slow down Miss Purple, as she lunged at Kentarumon and wrapped her arms around him, frizzing the quills from her body as she tightened hear bear hug to try and stab the blades into his body. But Kentarumon's body was covered in such thick plating that she failed to pierce much deeper than a couple of inches, letting Kentarumon to keep enough of his strength to pry her arms apart with his sheer power, before slamming the cannon on his right arm against her head like a hammer.

Refusing to go down, Miss Purple continued her assault, the ensuing battle between her and Kentarumon shaking the very walls that surrounded them.

"Need to-! Need to run! Run faster, you imbecile!" Saiko cursed at herself, gasping for air, her lungs burning, her leg throbbing in pain as it bled, but still she ran. She had no idea where to, she hadn't thought about it; she had no other choice but to pray that she picked the right option.

And after what felt like an eternity running, her faith had paid off. She saw the terminal in a small room at the very end of the hallway, and nearly crashed right into it out of sheer adrenaline. With trembling hands, she grabbed hold of the flash drive, and stuck it into the computer to get what she need. Her fingers danced over the keyboard, moving so fast she was moving practically on instinct. This was it, this was exactly what she came here for; now all she needed to do was-

Click!

"Well, well, well..." the Commandramon said, "Looks like we got a truant."

"Huhuhuh..." the other one chuckled as he aimed his rifle. "Sure does."

"I bet Boss Gray will give us quite the promotion when he hears all about how we brought down one of the Chosen~" the first one cackled.

This was it. It was over. Despite everything, she failed. She failed everyone. She had nothing left to do but close her eyes, and cry.

I'm sorry, Bakomon...!

THUMP!

"GWYAAAAAHH!!"

"URRAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Saiko's eyes snapped open as she heard something drop of the ceiling, followed by the painful screams coming from the Commandramon, and quickly turned around to see the electricity still crackling out of their bodies.

And above them loomed a figure clad in a thick cloak, covering their body except for their four outstretched arms, hands pulsing with electricity as they remained planted on the unconscious Commandramon's backs.

"Y-...You're-..." Saiko could only mouth in shock and complete bewilderment.

"Do what you must, and get out." the figure gruffly ordered before they stood back up and began leaving the area.

"W-Wait!" Saiko shouted. "You-...Were you the one who gave those files to Mister Blue? When Miss Purple mentioned you betrayed them, I didn't think-

"Don't think I just saved your life, wretch!" turning, she glared at Saiko with eyes aflame with pure hatred. "I am the only one... allowed to kill you..." with that, the figure rushed back down the hallway, vanishing into the darkness...

"Hunting Cannon!"

Another potent ball of energy was fired at Miss Purple, but the puppet Digimon had quickly grown skillful in dodging it. When Kentarumon tried to quickly charge another shot, Miss Purple quickly lunged at him, swiping aside the cannon with her claws before deliver a powerful punch at Kentarumon's stomach. Before he could strike back, she was already slashing at his body with her claws, then ramming the horns on her head against him with a headbutt.

Miss Purple's attacks had only grown wilder and more difficult to defend against as the battle raged on, her maddened laughter echoing down the tunnels.

"WELL!? WHERE'S ALL THAT BRAVADO NOW!?" she shouted as she clawed Kentarumon. "YOU SAID YOU'D STAND IN OUR WAY!? THAT YOU'D BRING OUR SALVATION TO A HALT!?" she blocked a punch attempt from him, then stabbed at him with the blades in her arm. "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH! YOU ARE A DELUDED FOOL! NOTHING CAN PREVENT BOSS GRAY'S WILL FROM BEING ACHIEVED! We will save this world, even if the world itself refuses to be saved! WE WILL PURGE YOUR EVIL UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!"

Kentarumon grunted as she slammed into him once more, and he quickly grabbed her shoulders so the two were stuck in a contest of pure strength. "There is only one who is deluded between us...! You fool yourself with your blind faith in your-"

"SILENCE!" she snarled, stabbing her claws at his face, but just narrowly connecting. "I am DONE listening to you DEMONS! The last thing I wish to hear come out of you are your final, gargling, DYING BREA-"

"Schwarz Strahl!"

Miss Purple let out a painful howl as she was blasted in the back by an energy beam, distracting her long enough for Kentarumon to capitalize by gathering energy on his cannon arm, and-

"Heat Upper!" blasted her with a powerful exploding uppercut, throwing her off of him and send her tumbling against a wall.

"Yoo-hoo~! Sorry we're late, but the cavalry is finally here~!" Camie cheerfully announced from atop Dobermon as she tilted her hat up.

"Utsushimi-san! Thank goodness!" Kentarumon said.

"...eh? Bako-kun?" Camie blinked. "Woooow! You evolved! Look at you! You're all strong and manly now! Like, wow! What a far cry, huh?"

Kentarumon flinched, thankful he had his helmet to hide his blush. "Uhm... y-yes, well... th-that aside! How did you find us?"

"Oh, that was easy~" Camie said, pointing at Miss Purple, "We could hear her crazy-talk from, like, ways far! Through the gosh darn walls, even!"

"It was just a matter of following her ravings until we found you." Dobermon added.

"Gh-! Ghhkk...! You..." Miss Purple growled as she straightened back up. "You actually... had the nerve to storm this base...!?"

"We most certainly did."

The voice quickly grabbed everyone's attention, as Saiko approached the scene once more. Limping, bleeding, but still carrying herself as tall as any king.

"Y-You...!!" Miss Purple growled.

"You were right, Miss Purple. Not heading for the server room directly was a crucial error on my part. An amateurish mistake which I can't excuse." Saiko admitted, much as it pained her to do so. "But my only mistake was to not open with my backup plan. You, on the other hand... my, where shall I begin?" she smirked triumphantly. "You assumed my goal was mere sabotage, for one; had I wanted to simply bring down your communications, I would have done so far more efficiently! You wouldn't have even known we were here at all, I can assure you of that. Second, you failed to properly account for our strength, not just of our Digimon, but of our resolve to see your whole operation come to an end! And thirdly..." she brushed aside her hair, gifting Miss Purple with the sight of her smuggest of grins. "You made the same mistake all of your other cronies did: you thought you could play around, and actually win against the great Intelli Saiko, not knowing that my formule for success had already been decided! How foolish you must feel right now~"

Even beneath her suit, Miss Purple's sheer rage was apparent as she huffed and growled helplessly, her body wanting desperately to wring Saiko's smug neck, but surrounded by Kentarumon and Dobermon, she didn't dare to make a move.

"I suggest you make at least one smart choice in your wretched life." Saiko added. "Run."

With a furious roar, Miss Purple turned and dug her claws into the wall, swiftly and wildly tearing open a hole in it that she soon shoved herself into, vanishing into the guts of the factory immediately after.

"Are you sure we should let her go?" Dobermon asked.

"We can't exactly arrest her, now can we?" Saiko tiredly replied. With the tension in the room fading, Saiko let out a lengthy and very relieved sigh. "Utsushimi-kun, I've unlocked all the doors. Warn the others, will you?"

"Caaaaan do!" Camie saluted before she picked up her walkie-talkie to alert the rest.

Saiko limped quietly closer to Kentarumon, looking up at the imposing centaur with a carefully neutral expression. "...'pigheaded', huh?"

Kentarumon flinched. "Uhm... w-well... y-you see, i-it's... that's not...!"

"Thank you..." she smiled, "For saving my life, Bakomon."

He froze, staring down at Saiko. And tears quickly came to his cyclopean eye as he cried out: "I-Intelli-saaaan...!"

"Well, there goes all that hunkiness, huh?" Camie lightly giggled.

"A man's tears show his true strength, Camie." Dobermon sagely said.

"Ehh? You think so?" she hummed, looking over to Kentarumon as he fawned over Saiko like a big puppy. "I think I can buy that~"

"Hrk!!" izuku let out a pitiful choking sound as he crashed into the wall, being flung over by Mister Orange.

"Huff... puff... G-Gotta hand it to ya, brat..." the oni said as he rubbed one of the bruises on his face, "You've got guts! I won't take that away from ya!"

Izuku slowly forced himself to his feet, nose bloody, still raising his fists, just barely seeing Mister Orange through his swollen eye. "Th-...There's plenty more where that came from..."

"Heh! Good!" Mister Orange approached, raising his club, "If nothing else, I'll give you the honor of dying on your feet!" and just before he swung it down-

"Ahem!"

Mister Orange blinked, looking over to find the door was now open.

And there was a small lion, a burning man, a head on legs, and a flower lady very angrily glaring at him, along with their respective humans.

"...oh. This is gonna hurt."

"Spadamon, Digivolve to LIAMON!!" wasting no time, the powerful lion leapt at Mister Orange, swatting him aside with a powerful paw to throw him away from Izuku, Liamon now standing between them, protecting his partner. "Izuku, are you alright?"

The boy swayed slightly, but managed a smile nonetheless. "I'm... fine, no worries..." but just as he said that, he was right about to fall over, quickly being caught by Mina.

"Woah! Someone's had enough excitement for one day!" she tried to grin, but Izuku looked to be in a real bad shape, and the worried look she gave Kyouka and Yui made her know it.

"Is everyone OK...?" he weakly asked as Kyouka placed his arm over her shoulder.

"Everyone's fine. Kendou and Airdramon are dealing with any stragglers; Intelli and Utsushimi are heading over as we speak." Kyouka assured him, feeling a bit of a pain herself when she saw Izuku's battered and bruised face attempt to smile in relief.

As for the other Digimon, the very threaningly began approaching Mister Orange, who was very quick to panic. "W-Woah, woah, h-hey now! Y-You guys aren't taking all this seriously, huh? C-C'mon, we were just messin' around, that's all!"

"Is that so?" Kabukimon said, unimpressed.

"Hwah hah! Sounds like fun! What do ya say we mess around with you a bit too, huh?" Meramon chuckled menacingly.

Nanimon struck his fists together. "I'm sure we'd have lots of fun with that, wouldn't we?"

"Ah-... Ah ha ha... w-well, uhh... y-y'see..." Mister Orange only shrunk further down in size as the Digimon slowly approached.

But then, a loud noise of static burst through the speakers.

"Huff... huff... Chosen Ones... I've told you before..." Miss Purple's ragged voice made itself heard, "I don't believe in leaving anything half-way!" suddenly, loud sirens began to blare all over the facility. "This factory... will be your tomb!"

"Iiii don't like the sound of that..." Kyouka said.

"W-What do you think this is about?" Mina asked

"Only one thing..." Yui answered. "Explosion..."

"WAHAHAHA! Look at you guys with egg all over your face!" Mister Orange gloated, "You thought you'd won, didn't you!? Well now you- WAIT, HOLD UP! DID YOU SAY AN EXPLOSION! B-B-BUT I'M STILL HERE!! WHAT THE HELL, PURPLE!?"

"We should probably-"

"HAUL ASS, PEOPLE!" Nanimon quickly shouted over Kyouka, immediately scooping up her and Izuku into his arms and get the hell out of dodge. Kabukimon grabbed Mina, while Yui jumped on top of Liamon, the whole group quickly getting out of there!

"W- H-HEY! W-WAIT FOR MEEEEEEE!!!" Mister Orange's yells fell on deaf ears, as the Chosen were already gone.

Back outside there was chaos, with the Comandramon and Hagurumon running as fast and as far as they could to steer clear from the factory's self-destruct. Those too injured to move very fast would find themselves being helped by the very same people who's been fighting them, with Itsuka and Camie helping as many of the Commandramon as they could get on the back sof their Digimon. Even Kentarumon allowed a few onto his back, as he carried Saiko in his arms. Seeing this, Liamon also picked up the last few Commandramon (meramon had offered to carry some, but nobody took him up on it).

It was a mad scramble to fully evacuate the facility, and at the very nick of time, they'd all made it out, the factory beginning to explode and crumble, erupting in flames as it collapsed into a fiery heap in only a minute. From the hill overlooking the base, the Chosen could breathe a sigh of relief at last. The Commandramon were left lost and confused, leaving with their injured with brief and quiet words of thanks for their saviors.

In the end, the Chosen were left alone to lick their wounds. Thankfully Saiko had brought with her a small first-aid kit, so they could tend to the wounded to some degree. Still, they definitely didn't come out of this unscathed at all.

"Intelli-senpai..." Izuku weakly spoke up as he rested, "Did you get it...?"

Saiko let out a breath of air, and raised up the flash drive with flashing a victory sign. "Mission... accomplished..."

"Eh? Get?" Mina blinked. "Get what?"

Kyouka raised an eyebrow at her. "Were you paying any attention when we went over all of this?"

"H-Hey, gimme a break! Telli-chan sometimes rambles a lot! It's hard to keep up with every detail!"

Saiko just sighed. "If we wanted to simply cripple their communications, there would've been far better ways of doing so. No, this mission was twofold: we were to sabotage the factory, yes, but also collect information." she explained. "Back at Mister Blue's factory, I was able to glance at a few key points of information. Namely, the signal for those metallic insects was coming from a base on Repeat Mountain, but the files given to us by Mister Blue mentioning nothing of the sort existing in this base."

Mina slowly nodded along. "...wait... so that means there's another base out there!? I thought we were done with this!"

"Would we be so fortunate..." Saiko tiredly said as she picked up her laptop, and plugged in the flash drive. She was quickly met with all the files she had managed to download from the terminal, quickly sifting through them. "With this, we should be able to get the location of this secret base, where we can shut down this entire operation for good."

"Then... if this is the last level..." Mina frowned.

"Boss Gray..." Yui finished her thought for her.

The war was still far from over...

Miss Purple stumbled out into the sick wilderness, tripping and falling on her hands and knees as she breathed raspy breaths.

"So much for picking up our slack! Chuuchuu!"

"Maybe ya just didn't take your dang-ol' job seriously enough!"

She flinched, raising her head to see Misters Yellow, Red, Blue and Green staring down at her.

With a wide grin, Mister Green leaned down, his tone of voice just dripping with mockery. "Now then... do you think we can 'waste' Boss Gray's time now~?"

Through ragged breaths, Miss Purple hung her head low in shame. "I'll... I'll contact him... and set up a meeting..."

"that will not be necessary."

The geenrals all raised their heads, finding a helmeted owl staring down at the from atop a leafless tree.

"Mister Brown...?" Green blink. "What do you mean?"

"Boss Gray wishes to see all of you." Mister Brown said, his cold red optics glaring unblinking on the five. "In person."

Chapter Text

"Boss Gray will see you now."

The five Chroma generals traversed down the bunker's dark hallways, before reaching a large elevator, each one stepping inside.

"Boss! Wait up!"

"Yeah! Hey, Boss!"

Mister Green looked over as Geremon and Numemon approached. "What do you two want? Can't you see we're in a hurry?"

"Ah, well-! Y'see-" Geremon cleared his throat, "We were wonderin' if we could come with! We've never seen Boss Gray with our own eyes before, after all!"

"Yeah! And it'd be cool to get to see a real super-secret meeting between you guys in person!"

Mister Green bristled slightly. "Don't be ridiculous! We're about to have a very important meeting, not some kind of ballgame for you to spectate! Get out of here, and go find something else to do that's at least somewhat useful!" with that, the elevator's gates closed, leaving the mollusk Digimon behind as it headed further down.

Numemon sagged slightly, disappointed. "Ah well, it was worth a shot anyway."

"I'm not givin' up just yet!" Geremon said, "We've been bustin' our butts no less than any of them! I'd say we've earned to be a part of their secret meeting!"

"But how do we get down there?"

Geremon rubbed his chin as he looked around them, his eyes quickly focusing on a vent grating just besides the elevator, leading towards the elevator shaft. "I might have just found our ticket in..."

The elevator ride was a tense one, neither of the generals feeling particularly optimistic about facing Boss Gray in person. It was a rare occasion; so rare that, for all five of them, it had only happened four times (it was Mister Red's first time meeting his boss this way).

They came to a stop deeper underground, and the door opened into a short walkway that would then lead them directly into Boss Gray's personal laboratory: located inside an enormous cavern, so large that the few lights that were currently available couldn't even fully light up the whole area, leaving much of it bathed in darkness. Nobody quite knew why Boss Gray had chosen this location for his personal space, but then again, nobody really dared to pry.

Arriving at the central platform, the five generals nervously but dutifully dropped to one knee (minus Mister Red, as he had no legs, but he still bowed). Among the shadows was the avian form of Mister Brown, his red optics gleaming, as he had arrived long before they had.

"Boss Gray, we have arrived." Miss Purple spoke into the darkness ahead of them, not knowing what the answer back would entail.

"My generals. Thank you for coming so quickly." Boss Gray spoke from the shadows, surprising the generals with the careful calmness in his voice.

"I-It's the least we could do... after all our failures..." Miss Purple shamefully said. "We... we throw ourselves at your mercy, and accept whatever punishment you have for us..."

"Tch..." Mister Green clicked his tongue, "We would've finished this sooner had you just heard my request to speak with Boss sooner." he then faced the figure in the shadows, no less nervous, but less self-abasing than Miss Purple was being. "Boss Gray, it's true we've failed on our mission, but the Chosen Ones' power has simply exceeded any of our expectations. But we're not at a loss yet; I believe if we pool our resources better, we'll be able to defeat them. I suggest you offer me full authority over our troops, and I will ensure that-

"Wait, you!?" the diminutive Mister Yellow guffawed. "Why should you be in charge!? You couldn't even hold the Chosen in your trap! My plan actually kept them inside my cage! I'm the one who should be leading us against them!"

"Now wait just a dang-ol' minute there!" Mister Red interjected, "Ya still couldn't even capture two of 'em! I got all but one; I should be dang-ol' leader!"

This quickly developed into a loud argument between Misters Green, Yellow and Red, while Miss Purple just continued to wallow in her own shame over her abject failure; only Mister Blue remained mostly silent, just sighing and mouthing "what a pain..." as his cohorts made fools of themselves.

Boss Gray remained silent for a good while, until finally- "That is enough." his voice didn't carry any anger or frustration, only a simple monotone order that immediately silenced the squabbling general. "Mister Green, you are correct. Our battle with the Chosen Ones is far from a lost cause. But neither you nor Miss Purple are correct in saying you've failed."

The general all blinked, looking at their boss with confusion.

"Your confrontations with the Chosen Ones have offered me most useful data, collected by Mister Brown. Whether you won or lost, you have contributed to our eventual victory nonetheless."

Mister Green grunted slightly as he looked over at the owl. "You mean you were spying on us the whole time? And you didn't even think about lending a hand!?"

"My orders were to observe." Mister Brown simply said, "And so, I observed."

"Mister Brown only did what I ordered him to." Boss Gray continued, "If he had interfered, it would have gotten in the way of his information gathering. This is why he had to remain hidden; I couldn't risk his presence, or you knowing of that presence, influencing the data... Mister Blue."

The dragon briefly flinched, his throat drying up as he could feel Boss Gray's eyes fall on him.

"Your concerns, though unfounded, do make emotional sense." Boss Gray continued. "but much like Miss Black, you were always too emotional for your own good."

Mister Green blinked, looking over at Mister Blue. "What's he saying, Blue? What did you do?"

"You... you did it!" Miss Purple finally raised her head, snarling at Mister Blue. "You accessed the files! You were helping the Chosen all along!"

"W-What!? Now, hold on!" Miss Green quickly tried to step in, "I've known Mister Blue for years! He would never-

"She's half right, actually." Mister Blue sighed, plainly admitting it much to the shock of the other generals. "I wasn't the one who accessed the files though; that was Miss Black. She just gave them to me, and I passed them down to the Chosen when I realized Mister Brown was spying on us."

"W-!? B-But-! Why would you do such a thing!?"

"Because I don't like people playing games behind my back." Mister Blue said, keeping his stare firmly on Boss Gray. "When I joined the Chroma Army, I was led to believe we were all working together for a common goal. The moment one of us, especially our boss, starts keeping secrets and being shifty, that's when you jump ship before the captain does who-knows-what to it." he lazily rubbed the back of his neck, "Guess this one just blew up in my face, is all. So, go ahead. If you're expecting me to grovel and beg for my life, you'll be waiting a while. Just go ahead and punish me, at least don't waste my time waiting for it."

Boss Gray was silent for a moment. "Punish you? What reason would I have to do that?" he asked. "Your treacherous actions will have ultimately had no effect against me. In the end, it will be as if you had done nothing at all. So, no. I will not punish you. I will not punish any of you. I still have use for all of you, after all."

Mister Blue scoffed lightly. "And what makes you think I'll even follow your orders?"

"I won't be giving any orders." Boss Gray simply said. "I'll simply be taking what I need."

Before any of the generals could react, something emerged from the darkness: five giant metallic arms that lunged like snakes at each of them, their claws closing like vices around their bodies, before dragging the generals into the darkness.

Mister Brown watched this happen with complete impassivity, simply turning to Boss Gray and bowing his head. "What will you have me do now, Boss?"

Boss Gray didn't answer right away, but slowly he turned to glance at the owl. "You... will join them."

The bird flinched, his blood running cold with a mixture of emotions, of fear and anger and betrayal, but before he could do anything about it, a metal hand had already reached out and grabbed him, before he too vanished into the dark abyss.

Amidst the distant screams of the six generals, Boss Gray stood alone in the darkness. All was falling into place; soon, his plan would come to fruition.

Meanwhile, two mollusks watched the events transpire from a vent, trembling in dismay, unable to see what had become of the generals, but knowing it couldn't be anything good...

"See anything yet?" asked Kyouka.

"Nothing so far." responded Saiko with a frown.

Camie tilted her head, placing her hands atop her eyes and squinting to try and see anything herself. "Are you sure that's the right place, Saiko-chan?"

"Positive." Saiko responded with a sigh, lowering her spyglass. "The entrance to the bunker should be somewhere in the area. It must simply be more hidden than I expected."

"I guess it was too much to ask for a big flashing 'secret evil bunker' sign." Kyouka said.

"The brand will never catch on if they just keep hiding." Neemon crossed his arm, "They need better advertising. Chroma Army t-shirts; Chroma Army coffee mugs; Chroma Army action figures... they could be sitting on a gold mine in merchandising!"

Spadamon just looked at the other Digimon with a flat expression. "What are you even talking about?"

"Labra-kun, can you smell anything?"

The dog just shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Camie. I can't detect anything out of the ordinary around here."

"I'm getting so restless!" whined Candmon as he bounced from side to side. "I wanna bust some heads! I'm gonna find Boss Gray, and bust his head! And if Mister Green gets in my way, I'll bust his head! Or Miss Purple; I'll bust her head too! I'll bust anyone's head!"

Izuku laughed a bit nervously at the candle's antics, but his focus turned to the other Digimon standing besides him. "Bakomon, you've been pretty quiet all morning. Is everything alright?"

"Hm?" the box Digimon blinked, looking up at him. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Midoriya-san, it's just... I can't seem to stop thinking about all the things Miss Purple said..."

Izuku frowned slightly, now thinking about it too. While he wasn't there, he'd heard all about it from Bakomon; how she spoke about them like they were the bearers of some kind of disease, or something that threatened the world itself. It made no sense, of course, but it didn't make it any less troubling of a thought.

"We really don't know what the Chroma Army is after..." Itsuka said.

"We know they want us dead." Kyouka bluntly stated, getting Itsuka to flinch.

"E-Even still, we can't say for sure what might have been going through her mind at the time."

"Huh? Isn't she just evil?" Dracomon asked, tilting her head, "That's just  what evil people do!"

"It's not always that simple, Dracomon." Itsuka explained. "Even Villains have reasons for doing the things they do. They might not be the best reasons, , but they still exist."

Dracomon blinked as she stared up at Itsuka. "Ehhh...? Really?"

Itsuka smiled down at her, seeing the little dragon start to put things together. "Nobody just does things arbitrarily, Dracomon."

"Except dogs." Kyouka commented.

"And ghosts..." added Yui, much to Itsuka's confusion.

"Hey, guys! Raurau-chan found something!"

Everyone turned as Mina's voice called out from a bit further away.

"What is it, Ashido-san?" asked Izuku.

The pink girl lightly nudged her partner. "C'mon, tell 'em!"

"Ah, well... it might be nothing but..." Alraumon said a bit shyly, "I was trying to find some good soil to rest my feet in for a while, and I noticed the ground's kinda shaking a bit over in that direction."

"Shaking?" Itsuka blinked.

"Where is this, Alraumon?" Saiko quickly stepped forward, and was guided over to the spot. Saiko examined it, but her hand wasn't quite as sensitive to the soil as Alraumon's roots. Still, she wasn't about to just drop it. "Labramon, could you please dig here?"

The dog blinked but nodded affirmatively, quickly getting to work digging a hole in the ground.

"What are you looking for, Saiko-chan?"

"We'll know if we find it." she responded to Camie, and everyone waited as Labramon dug deeper. It didn't take long before his paws met with something harder than the soil, the dog digging around the thing to uncover it, until finally, the hole revealed a thick metal tube hidden beneath the ground. Saiko reached out to touch it, and sure enough, it was vibrating. "It seems this is what Alraumon felt."

"You think this has anything to do with the bunker we've been looking for?" Izuku asked.

Saiko nodded. "It very well could."

"Alright, Raurau-chan! Nice find!" Mina cheered her partner, who blushed a bit at the praise.

"Alraumon, do you think you can follow the vibrations in the soil?"

"Sure! No problem!" she said, and the group set off to follow the buried tube, hopefully leading somewhere...

"This is the place?"

Alraumon nodded. "Yeah, this is where the ground's the most tingly!"

Saiko looked around, but they short journey hadn't exactly taken them to a more obvious secret bunker location. All she could see around them were more rocks and boulders over the craggy mountainous terrain. They'd stopped before a large natural rock formation, with nothing out of the ordinary in sight.

"We must be at the right location, but..." she mused out loud, "Where could the entrance be..."

"Maybe there's a hatch hidden somewhere?" Izuku suggested, which Saiko agreed to the possibility.

Kyouka looked around at the area, frowning as she saw just how many rocks were scattered about. "It could take forever to look through this whole place..." she said as she watched Yui pick up a small stone to check underneath it, as if a hatch could somehow be hidden by such a small rock.

"No stone unturned..." Yui quietly said.

"Hey, keep your chin up!" Neemon said, "If you start now, you might just be finished by the end of next month."

Kyouka leveled him with a flat stare. "I notice you're saying 'you' and not 'we'."

"Obviously; I'm not getting involved!" Neemon scoffed, walking over to a rock to lean back against it. "I mean, look at my skinny arms! Do these look like rock-turning arms? Nah, I think this is a job best left to-"

Click!

As Neemon leaned against the wall, he found it slipping out from behind him, sliding backwards. As it did so, the large rock formation rumbled to life, as the stones that formed it slid open, revealing the entrance way into an elevator.

"Woah! Nice work, Neemon! You found it!" Alraumon cheered.

"Wha'...?" Neemon blinked.

"Looks like your slacking can come in handy sometimes." Spadamon added with an amused smirk.

Izuku stepped closer to the opened elevator, feeling a slight knot in his stomach. "This is it, then..."

"It is." Saiko said, taking the moment to steel herself. "Right then, everyone." she turned to the others, "They must know we're coming already, so there's no sugar coating this: once we step inside, there won't be any turning back. We'll be heading straight into the enemy's home turf, and I cannot guarantee your safety. If you wish to turn back, then now is the time to do so."

"No way, friendo!" Camie confidently said. "Like, I'm not backing down on this; these Chroma geeks need a good kick to the butt for what they've been doing here!"

"I will go wherever Camie goes." Labramon said, "I am ready to face whatever danger comes our way."

"I can't turn back either, and leave you guys to deal with this on your own." Itsuka said. "You can count on me!"

"Yaay! You can count on Dracomon too! She'll make Itsuka proud!" the little dragon cheered.

"Wouldn't be very rocking of me to turn around and leave after all this, would it?" Kyouka said.

"No, it'd just be smart." Neemon added.

"Aw, c'mon, Nee-kun! Show a little fighting spirit, OK~?" Camie cooed.

And instantly- "OK! LET'S ROCK THESE GUYS AND MAKE 'EM REGRET THEY EVER MESSED WITH US!" Neemon shouted with renewed vigor and passion.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Candmon cheered, "Let's get 'em with a WHAM! And a POW! And a ZOOM! Ha ha! Let's blow 'em sky high!"

"Mh." Yui decidedly added.

"You can count on us too! Right, Mina-chan?"

The pink girl flinched a bit at her partner's proclamation, not looking quite as resolute as everyone else, but still nodding her head. "R-Right! L-Let's-... Let's do this!"

Izuku and Spadamon shared a wordless look, both of them nodding as if they knew exactly what the other was thinking.

"A knight does not run in the face of evil." the lion said.

"We're ready when you are." Izuku nodded.

"Intelli-san, let's do our best!" Bakomon said.

Saiko nodded, and the group faced the elevator once more. They would all step inside, and head straight down into the bunker, ready for the battle ahead...

"We.... We're not quite sure what happened, sir." the Commandramon on the screen reported, "The Saberdramon fought back too fiercely with the help of Gaogamon; we weren't able to subjugate them before we were forced to retreat."

"No matter." Boss Gray calmly said. "Our troubles with Header Town will soon be over."

"Sir?"

Boss Gray paused as he noticed a new notification appear on the console before him, before then focusing back on the Commandramon. "Return to the front lines. You will receive reinforcements soon enough."

"Yes sir!" the Commandramon saluted before the feed was cut off.

With a few button presses, the monitors before Boss Gray started showing live footage of his bunker, along with footage of the Chosen as they rode down the elevator shaft. He watched in silence as the tallest of the group, a girl with lavender hair, pointed up at the camera, urging the pink girl to shoot thick acid onto the lens, slowly but surely destroying it and blinding the camera.

"Soon... everything will be as I had planned..." he whispered to himself.

"Move! Move! Move!" the Commandramon barked out orders at the others as they dashed down the dark hallways of the bunker. Numbered at twelve, half of the Commandramon took to one knee as they arrived in front of the elevator, the other other aiming their guns above them.

"Hold you positions!" the sergeant commanded, and the Commandramon patiently waited as the low humming of the elevator drew nearer.

And slowly, the doors opened.

"FIRE!"

The thunder of gunfire erupted in the hallway, the Commandramon emptying their magazines as they unloaded every bullet their had into the elevator. As the ruckus came to a stop, that's when they realized they'd been shooting at nothing at all.

Before they could frantically reload, the colorful shape of Kabukimon had already dropped down from the open hatch in the ceiling of the elevator, swinging her hair powerfully to summon a Cherry Blossom Blizzard that quickly filled up the hallway, covering the Commandramon's vision in pink. From the petal storm, Nanimon soon emerged while leaping high into the air, summoning a large pink excrement above his head.

"Poop Dunk!" he threw down the excrement, which splatted messily onto the platoon of Commandramon, trapping them in its mess. With the threat neutralized, the rest of the Chosen and their Digimon quickly climbed down from the elevator shaft, and proceeded to rush their way down the hallway.

It didn't take long before the alarm sounded out, alerting the entire bunker of the intruders. Commandramon began pouring out left and right, searching down every hallway to stop the intruders from advancing any further.

"We know where we're going, right?" Kyouka asked as everyone ran as fast they could.

"I have a fairly strong hunch I'm following!" was Saiko's answer. "I couldn't get a detailed map of the bunker, but I know what to look for!"

Kyouka nodded. "Good enough for me!" she then slid to a halt, turning around to face a group of Commandramon that were fast approaching. "We'll hold them off! Nanimon, do your thing!"

The invader Digimon quickly spun around, summoning another big pile of poo to hurl towards the oncoming foes. "Poop Dunk!" he then turned to the others with a thumbs up. "Go on, everybody! We got this!"

Yui also came to a stop, quickly approaching Kyouka. "We help..." she said before turning to her partner with a nod.

"You got it, Yui! Candmon, Digivolve to MERAMON!!!" the candle transformed into a fiery monster, laughing maniacally as he hurled fireball after fireball at any approaching enemies. "HWAH HA HA! Crimson Flame! Crimson Flame! Crimson Flaaaaaaame!! Hwah ha ha ha!!!"

With Nanimon and Meramon covering their backs, the rest of the Chosen continued rushing deeper into the bunker. As they ran, Saiko payed close attention to every sign on the wall, every number they ran past, every symbol that could offer them a clue as to where they might be going. "B-2... C-1... D-2... come on, where is it!"

Their running eventually lead them to a rather large and mostly empty room, besides a few consoles manned by a couple of Commandramon that were taken off guard. Kabukimon swiftly dispatched them with a series of swift chops to the sides of their necks, and they fell to the floor momentarily unconscious.

Saiko wasted no time, rushing towards the console to begin quickly browsing through the available information. She didn't have time to look through the entire floor plan of the bunker, but she only had to find the room that held the master computer.

"Kendou-san, is anyone coming?" Izuku focused on ensuring Saiko got as much time as possible.

Itsuka peeked out the hallway they came from, turning back to Izuku and shaking her head. "Coast's clear, it looks like!"

However, this didn't get Izuku to feel more at ease. "That's strange..." he looked up, and sure enough, he could see more security cameras aimed right at them, "They should know we're here... so why aren't they coming after us?"

"Well, isn't this what they say about putting a gift in a horse's mouth?" Camie asked.

"I don't think that's how the expression goes, Camie." Labramon let her know, Camie only looking a bit confused.

"Well whatever it is, it's their loss, right?" Mina said. "maybe they got the message about how super-strong we are, and don't want to face us anymore!"

Spadamon, meanwhile, seemed rather attentive. Izuku was right, something felt wrong about this, but he couldn't quite place his finger on why. It was probably by sheer luck that he saw it, the light reflecting on the shining blade, and allowed him to call out: "MINA-SAN! WATCH OUT!"

All at once, Izuku's body was powered up as he charged towards the pink girl, not even entirely sure what he was protecting her against, just knowing that he had to move fast! He swept up Mina in his arm just before the knife connected, slicing through the fabric of her shirt's back. As he slid to a halt, the figure that had dropped down was already charging his way, much too quickly for him to avoid it, but thankfully Kabukimon's timely intervention prevented things from going very badly. The flowery Digimon intercepted the metallic grey figure, who was forced to quickly dodge away from a kick, and jump back with a series of backflips until it got itself atop of a large machine of unknown purpose.

The Digimon resembled a cyborg dragon, covered from head to toe in tactical gear, complete with a mask and advanced goggles. A long metallic tail swished behind it, ending in a sharp blade, just like the knife it held in its hand.

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Sealsdramon

Level IV

Type: Cyborg

Attribute: Wrathful

An elusive Digimon said to only come about when one hundred Commandramon compete over which one's the strongest, with the last one standing transforming into this elite operative. It specializes in stealth and assassination, being able to move faster than the eye can see in short bursts. Its special move, Death Behind, identifies its target's weak points and eliminates them in one swift and silent knife attack.

------

"To have detected our movement like that; a most impressive deed." the cyborg said, before he was joined by two other Sealsdramon at his side. "We are the Gunmetal Trio. Personal bodyguards of Boss Gray. By his command, you shall perish here today."

"Quickly! We must protect Intelli-san!" Bakomon shouted.

"Besides, like, I've got plans for tomorrow already~!" Camie tauntingly said. "Labra-kun!"

"Dracomon! You too!"

"Spadamon, do your best!"

"Bakomon, Digivolve to KENTARUMON!"

"Labramon, Digivolve to DOBERMON!"

"Dracomon, Digivolve to AIRDRAMON!!"

"Spadamon, Digivolve to LIAMON!"

The Gunmetal Trio wasted little time, charging down against the Chosen's Digimon without fear. Gunmetal-1 jumped straight against Liamon and Kentarumon, nimbly dodging Liamon's claw attack before swinging a knife that was blocked by Kentarumon's cannon arm. He slipped from Kentarumon's grasp when he tried to grab him, slashing at the centaur with his sharp tail, then interrupt Liamon's charge with a spinning jump kick.

Gunmetal-2 leapt from side to side, dodging Dobermon's Schwarz Strahl energy attacks, but when she got close, Kabukimon jumped in with the petals on her hands rapidly spinning like buzzsaws, clashing with Gunmetal-2's knife. Kabukimon swung her arms again repeatedly, her attacks parried by Gunmetal-2's knife, before the cyborg dragon was forced to leap high into the air to dodge Dobermon's attempt at biting her, Gunmetal-2 landing back behind the large hound and just narrowly missing driving her knife onto his thigh.

Airdramon's size prevented her from taking flight inside the room, but she could still slither and coil her serpentine body for her own protection, swinging her tail to keep Gunmetal-3 at bay. She let loose a stream of fire down on the cyborg dragon, but the enemy Digimon jumped aside to avoid it. He then threw himself at Airdramon, looking to drive the knife right into her side, but the dragon roughly swung her wing that, while it failed to strike Gunmetal-3, was enough to push him back from the gust of air it created.

As the battle raged on behind her, Saiko did her best to focus on her own task, rapidly opening file after file, until finally- "There it is! A fake wall, of course; no wonder I couldn't find it!" she moved away from the console and towards the others. "We need to move! The master computer is close by!"

Izuku looked at her with a nod, then to the pink girl in her arms. "Ashido-san, will you be OK?"

Mina flinched a bit, her body trembling slightly from the incredibly close shave she'd gotten from earlier. When she grinned at Izuku, it was an incredibly forced one. "S-Sure I will! Th-These guys ain't nothing! Kabukimon's got this, no worries!" with that assurance, Izuku let Mina down.

"We'll handle these jerks!" Camie offered a much sunnier smile and a thumbs up. "You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up!"

"Good luck, Midoriya-san, Intelli-san!" said Itsuka.

"Alright! Liamon, come on!"

"Kentarumon, let's move out!"

Liamon and Kentarumon heard their partners' call, and they both released the combined powers of their Thunder Of King and Hunting Cannon against Gunmetal-1, driving the cyborg dragon back further to avoid the attacks. As the two Digimon retreated, Gunmetal-1 tried to intercept them, only to be blocked by Kabukimon jumping in his path, and keep the cyborg busy.

Saiko and Izuku jumped atop their Digimon, riding them out of the room and back into the labyrinthine hallways of the bunker. Much as it worried them to leave the rest to fend off for themselves, they remained focused on the task at hand, Saiko paying close attention to where they were going, until-

"There! Aim at that wall!"

"Hunting Cannon!"

Kentarumon did exactly as ordered, and the might of his blast completely destroyed the fake wall that had been hiding what they'd been searching for: an elevator leading down further into the bowels of the bunker. A group of Commandramon showed up from down the hallway and opened fire, but the Chosen and their Digimon had already slip inside the elevator and began making their descent. The shouting and commotion grew more distant and faint, until eventually, they had nothing more but the humming of the elevator and their own thoughts to listen to.

"Remain vigilant, Midoriya-kun. We have no idea what awaits us down there."

"R-Right..." he nodded, nervous but determined to see this through. "Are you ready, Liamon?"

The lion nodded. "Yes, I-" he then paused, looking up. "Someone is on top of the elevator!"

Everyone quickly got on their guard, Kentarumon aiming his cannon up as they heard the noise of something moving up there. The hatch on the ceiling began to move until-

"H-HIYIKE!"

"WAGH!" the two figures came falling down from the hatch, splatting on the floor on top of one another.

"Ah-! It's the Poop E- I mean- Geremon and Numemon!" Izuku said.

The mollusks groaned, but quickly jumped back onto their feet. "Ah-! I-It's the Chosen! The heck are you doing here!?" Geremon shouted.

"Yeah! Y-You shouldn't be here! It's dangerous!"

"We're well aware of that!" Saiko shouted.

Kentarumon aimed his cannon at them. "If you are here to stop us, then-"

"N-No, no, no! You got it all wrong!" Numemon quickly said.

"Y-Yeah! We were just tryin' to get the heck outta here!" Geremon said. "A-And you should too!"

"What are you talking about!? It took a lot of work to even get here!" Saiko huffed.

"Wait, calm down, what are you even running from?" Izuku asked.

"I-It's the boss!" Numemon said, clearly frightened. "Something's happened to him!"

"You mean Boss Gray?"

"No, the other boss!" Geremon said, "Mister Green! Boss Gray's the one we're running from!"

"B-Boss Gray captured all the other bosses, and he's doing something to them! Th-There was just so much screaming, a-and..."

"And we don't wanna be next!" Geremon concluded.

The two humans looked between each other, both confused and somewhat horrified at what they were listening.

"Boss Gray's turned on his own men, it seems." Saiko said, holding her chin in thought.

"Th-That's awful..." Izuku quietly said. "Do you know what happened to them?" he asked the mollusk, but they shook their heads.

The humming of the elevator came to a slow stop. Sooner or later, it seemed like they would find out for themselves. The elevator's doors would open to reveal the cavernous expanse that was the lowest level of the bunker, shrouded almost entirely in darkness.

Carefully, the Chosen exited the elevator, the mollusks hiding behind their Digimon as they followed them. Only their footsteps could be heard on the metal platform, as Saiko and Izuku dropped down from their Digimon's backs and approached the center.

"Welcome, Chosen Ones..."

Finally, a deep voice was heard calling to them from the darkness.

"At last, we get a chance to meet. Face to face."

Gunmetal-1's blade clashed with Kabukimon's spinning petals over and over, neither Digimon getting the upper hand in their exchange. Kabukimon would blast energy beams from the mouths of its hands, but Gunmetal-1 easily avoided it. He lunged at Kabukimon to try and take advantage of an opening, but the flowery Digimon was quick to correct the gap in her defense and block the attack.

Both Dobermon and Airdramon found themselves in a similar stalemate with their opponents, neither side able to get a solid advantage over the other. A combined Schwarz Strahl and God Tornado attack forced both Sealsdramon back, reconvening with Gunmetal-1 as he also made some distance with his opponent.

The only major difference between both sides is that, while the Chosen's Digimon appeared to be tiring, none of the Gunmetal Trio seemed out of breath in any way.

"Hang in there, Dober-kun!" Camie called out to her partner, but even she could tell Dobermon was feeling the strain from exhaustion.

"You've got 'em on the ropes! Don't give up now, Bukibuki-chan!" Mina cheered on.

"This isn't good, I don't know how much longer they can take this..." Itsuka muttered, seeing Airdramon's movement grow slower by the minute.

Their opponents readied their blades, Gunmetal-1 holding his horizontally in front of him. "Your end draws near with our next attack. Secret Killer Technique: Death's Triangle!" the three cyborgs leapt into the air, one leaping at the wall, the other at the opposite wall, while the third leapt the the ceiling; they would then quickly exchange positions, jumping from point to point in rapid succession as they dove towards the other Digimon with their blades outstretched, as they sought to tear into their foes with the speed of a gust of wind, but-

"Crimson Flame!"

"Poop Attack!"

The combined flurry of fireballs and excrement forced them to break their carefully choreographed positioning, forcing the Gunmetal Trio to leap out of the way to safety.

"Woo-hoo! Anyone order a sexy pizza pie, with a side order of chicken flambé?" shouted Nanimon as he and Meramon approached.

"Guys!" called out Kyouka as she approached with Yui, "You alright?"

"Jirou-san! Kodai-kun!" Itsuka said in relief.

"Oh thank goodness!" Mina nearly stumbled onto her knees.

"Nice save, you guys~!" Camie cheerfully waved.

"Those dinosaur guys stopped showing up so much, giving us plenty of time to come find you." Kyouka explained, grinning victoriously. "Good thing too, looks like you could use some help."

"Mhmm." Yui nodded.

The Gunmetal Trio stood back to back to back, now surrounded on all sides by enemy Digimon, and while they didn't show it, they didn't feel too confident in their odds anymore.

Needless to say, neither Saiko nor Izuku were sure what to think of what they were seeing. A lone spotlight had turned itself on, shining down a light on the form of the leader of the Chroma Army, Boss Gray himself, as he stood atop a small platform.

His appearance... was not what they had expected.

The Digimon stood shorter than 100 centimeters in height, around the size of a toy, his metallic body shaped like a cylinder, and with a glass dome sitting atop his head to protect the pieces of visible circuitry and machinery; he had four short legs with a single claw on his feet, and two oversized metal hands at the end of snake-like tube arms; his face was composed of one blinking yellow eye, and a break in the metal carapace showing a single organic left eye that showed no emotion, and a wide mouth bearing sharp teeth.

It was hard to tell if they should feel silly for being so intimidated up to this point.

"...this is what we've been fighting against!?" Saiko finally said in utter disbelief. "Is this some kind of joke!?"

"I assure you, this is no laughing matter." Boss Gray calmly replied. "I commend you for having reached this far, but I already expected as much. Unfortunately for you, it won't make a difference. Your failure is already assured."

Izuku, while still not knowing quite what to think, still felt it prudent not to jump to conclusions. "Intelli-senpai, we should be carefu-"

"Oh, please!" she scoffed. "You really think you can talk big now, little man?" she smugly smirked at Boss Gray, "We've overpowered everything and everyone you've thrown at us; boldly stormed your base unperturbed by your security; and now, we have you outnumbers and outmatched! It's over for you, and your whole operation!" she raised her arm as she ordered: "Kentarumon! Get him out of my sight!"

"Roger!" Kentarumon said as he aimed his cannon. "Hunting Cannon!" blasting a powerful ball of energy, it flew directly towards Boss Gray, who made no attempt to dodge it.

"Pitiful..." he quietly uttered before raising his arm, and with a single hand, caught the Hunting Cannon blast on his palm, effortlessly holding it before him. His fingers then curled onto it, crushing the energy ball between his grasp without any sign of damage done to himself.

A cold chill ran through Izuku's body, and Saiko could only stare in incredulity at what happened. All of a sudden, it's as if the air around them had changed, and even if they couldn't explain it, they could feel it: the overwhelming murderous aura that emitted from the diminutive Digimon.

"Perhaps I gave you too much credit." Boss Gray said, "You are not as percipient as I was led to believe, if you would disregard me as a threat based on my appearance. It would do you well to realize that I stand a level above your Digimon. You are no threat to me."

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Nanomon

Level V

Type: Machine

Attribute: Wrathful

A highly-intelligent Digimon able to reconfigure any computer to restore or destroy its data as it pleases. A medical expert capable of breaking down Digimon from the inside with deadly poisons and diseases. Its special move, Plug Bomb, fires miniature missiles that pack enormous quantities of explosive material despite their size.

------

"We'll just see about that!" Liamon roared as he charged straight towards Boss Gray, aiming his claws against the diminutive Digimon, but just like before, the Nanomon simply blacked the paw's advance with one arm, causing Liamon's attack to come to a complete halt.

"Nano Crash." called out Boss Grey, before a purple forcefield emerged around Liamon, trapping him inside a floating bubble that he couldn't break out of even as he clawed against it with all his strength.

"Liamon!" Izuku called out, his body already coursing with the strength of One For All-

"Enough." Boss Gray spoke, "Any action you take will be futile. I can detonate my forcefield whenever I wish. Do not take one step closer."

Izuku froze in place, his whole body stiffening in anger as he couldn't even move to save his partner now.

"Good. At least you are intelligent enough to obey simple commands." Boss Gray said as he kept Liamon suspended in midair.

"Why..." Izuku asked, earning him a slight moment of curiosity from Boss Gray. "Why are you doing this? Attacking innocent Digimon, forcing them to work for you, toying with their emotions... what's the point of any of it!?"

Boss Gray didn't respond right away, his eye narrowing. "Is it not obvious by now? I do this to save our world."

"And salvation equals subjugation in your mind?" Kentarumon asked.

"It does. When I wish to save this world from itself." Boss Gray answered. "To save it from you."

Saiko flinches, snapped out of her frozen state. "W-What in blazes are you on about...!? What have we done that would require any saving from!?"

"...I suppose you would be unaware." Boss Gray quietly mused. "In a way, it is tragic. That you would need to be stopped, before even being aware of the dark fate you would bring upon this world."

"What... what do you mean...?" Izuku quietly said, his curiosity coming to the forefront of his mind.

"Chosen Ones... you must have been told of that legend by now, haven't you?"

Saiko and Izuku exchanged looks before nodding. "Yes..." Izuku said, "Legendary heroes brought to the world to save it in its darkest hour. That's what we were told."

This actually earned a brief chuckle from Boss Gray's otherwise cold monotone. "Yes... of course you would be told that version. The people in this island... hopeful fools. Either too young, or too sheltered by their isolated lifestyle to remember. Remember a time when darkness ruled over the world. A time when the Chosen commanded that darkness, and held absolute power over every living thing."

Both Izuku and Saiko were knocked aback by this, neither certain whether to believe in Boss Gray's words or not, but just somehow feeling a certain sincerity in his voice that they couldn't fully ignore.

"In this world, there is a source of power known as 'Dark Energy'. It is everywhere. In everyone, and every thing." Boss Gray continued. "In most cases, Dark Energy will go untapped. It will remain dormant inside of Digimon, aside from a few standout instances. When a Digimon is capable of tapping into Dark Energy, they are imbued with terrifying power. They're capable of breaking past the very limits of their current form, and obtain strength beyond their peers. Of course... you have seen this firsthand already."

Izuku flinched, his eyes quickly flitting over to the trapped Liamon, who had come to the same conclusion Izuku had. The mad black lion from before... that's what he was talking about...

"Dark Energy, like any power source, can be manipulated with the right tools." Boss Gray continued, "My Gear Bugs directly stimulate a Digimon's aggression and anger, the simplest way of generating Dark Energy within a Digimon. But even that pales in comparison to the power held by the Digivices." he said, pointing at the device strapped to Saiko's satchel. "The Digivices are capable of generating astounding levels of Dark Energy at their wielder's command. With a mere thought, a single Digivice can create an army of berserkers at the beck and call of their master. This is the power that you wield. The power that will, undoubtedly, corrupt you."

This snapped Izuku back, as he almost instinctively fired back with- "Even if you're right, we won't let that happen! We can-"

"It is inevitable." Boss Gray immediately shot him down. "The power of Dark Energy is absolute. Nothing can resist its contamination. In the end, all fall before the promise of its power. And you, the Chosen Ones, are the most dangerous of its victims. It has happened before. I will not let that terror return to our world."

Saiko took the moment to think, before she asked: "In that case... why are you creating Dark Energy yourself, then? How does creating more of it help save the world?"

"A sensible question." Boss Gray said. " I am merely fighting fire with fire. In order to prevent the creation of more Dark Energy, I must ensure this world is rid of that which creates it. Anger. Hatred. Joy. Emotions that only serve as fuel to the corruption. To rid this world of these emotions, I must eliminate their sources. First, I must rid this world of strife. Strife is born out of the unchecked wants and needs of living creatures. The predator who hunts for more than it requires. The prey who takes more from around them than they need. Greed is innate to all thinking creatures. But that is only the start: greed, desire, rage, but also joy, pride; emotions, negative and positive, all have the chance to be turned into Dark Energy. I must create a world where none of these powerful emotional states can come into being. I must suppress them, replace these illogical concepts with one single truth: despair. Despair is a lack of wants, of needs, of joy, or sorrow; it is acceptance of one's own fate. Only when the world is plunged into despair can Dark Energy truly be stopped."

"So, all of that just to say..." Saiko calmly said, "You need the power to enslave the world's population. Place everyone under your absolute rule, and take away their freedom and their hope." she lightly scoffed. "You may have dolled up your reasoning, but in the end, you're nothing more than another crazed tyrant! The world you speak of doesn't sound any less terrible than the one you claim to wish to prevent!"

"Acceptance of one's subjugation is the only logical deterrent! It is world's apart from the torment and erroneous faith brought about under a tyrannical despot!" Boss Gray's voice, for the first time, raised above its detached monotone, Saiko having clearly struck a nerve. He then took a moment, his voice quickly regaining its coldness. "I do not expect you to understand. Nor do I need you to."

"So, now what?" Saiko dismissively said, "You'll sick what's left of your army on us to kill us? Because that hasn't exactly worked in your favor thus far."

"...my army?" the Digimon chuckled quietly at this. "No. My army are little more than peons. Tools that I required to carry out my work, before I could create my ultimate weapon. That which will let me take over this world, and see to your total destruction."

The lights within the cave began turning on, one by one, revealing more of the cave. At first it simply revealed more of the platform they were on, along with the master computer the had come here to destroy. But then the lights revealed a series of six chambers, each one holding a different Chroma general attached to various tubes, squirming in pain, their faces contorting with silent screams of agony.

"For a year, I have been harvesting Dark Energy directly from other Digimon, sometimes with the aid of my Gear Bugs, sometimes more directly with these machines at my disposal. At the same time, I have been mining and gathering Chrome Digizoit, one of the strongest metals in the world, in order to arm my new weapon. A weapon created and molded out of Dark Energy itself..."

The lights continued to turn on, until they finally illuminated the entire cave... and the thing currently gestating in the back of it. The platform overlooked its creation, as it remained curled up, attached to countless machines that pumped it full of Dark Energy. It was massive; at least the size of a three-story tall building, and in the shape of a black serpentiform winged dragon; its skull-like head had a single large horn emerging from its nose, a second horn emerging downward from its chin; its right arm ended in a large cannon, spikes jutting out from its barrel, and from its left arm emerged a vicious metal scythe.

"Now, you will bear witness to the birth of the artificial Devil Dragon!"

Boss Gray held out his arms, practically beaming with pride over his own creation.

"I give you... GRIMMON!"

Chapter Text

A blur of green sped towards the forcefield, Izuku aiming a powerful kick at its side to try and break through the barrier trapping his partner. The forcefield shook, but did not break.

"You still haven't realized the futility of your struggles." Boss Gray almost sighed in disappointment.

"I've heard enough out of you!" Izuku snarled back, genuine anger in his eyes. "This ends here! LIAMON!" he leapt up into the air again, spinning his entire body to gather as much moment in his next kick as he possibly could. At the same time, Liamon swung his paw back, launching it against the forcefield in the same location Izuku aimed- "SMASH!!!"

The barrier shuddered and splintered apart, freeing the lion from his cage and letting him land on the floor once more. Without wasting any time, Liamon gathered his lightning in his mane, shooting out a powerful Thunder Of King at Boss Gray. The Nanomon didn't move, getting struck by the lightning without even flinching, then swinging an arm to smack aside the Hunting Cannon blast sent his way by Kentarumon.

Aiming his hand at the two Digimon- "Plug Bomb." Boss Gray's fingers opened with a burst of smoke, unleashing a small swarm of miniature red missiles towards Liamon and Kentarumon. The missiles flew in wild patterns without actively targeting the two Digimon, and they exploded upon contact with anything, erupting in violent explosions that rocked the entire platform they stood on. Even without a direct hit, Izuku and Liamon were still thrown aside by the force of the blast, with Kentarumon moving quickly to get Saiko out of harm's way, and Geremon and Numemon squealing and being even faster in finding a hiding spot.

Izuku quickly rolled back onto his feet despite still feeling the heat of the explosion over his skin, letting adrenaline fully take over. "Intelli-senpai, you have to free the Digimon from that machine!"

"R-Right!" Saiko jumped off Kentarumon's arms to quickly make her way to the main computer. If she could just find a way to shut everything down, and prevent that draconic monster from awakening, then that would be one less thing to worry about. "Kentarumon, keep him busy!"

"Understood!" the centaur shouted as he charged towards Boss Gray, boosted by the exhausts on his back. He sought to kick the smaller Digimon with his hind legs, but Boss Gray easily blocked the attack with his arm, beginning to summon another forcefield to trap Kentarumon. Luckily, Kentarumon was quick to jump away and prevent that from happening, launching another Hunting Cannon blast that Boss Gray avoided.

Liamon got back to his feet, throwing himself at Boss Gray's back, only for the machine Digimon to intercept him, grabbing him by the front leg and chest, and toss Liamon over his body and towards Kentarumon, the two colliding and crumbling to the ground. Before he could make another move however, he saw a green blur dart towards him, Boss Gray easily grabbing Izuku's leg before it connected. His fingers squeezed so tightly around the leg that Izuku almost felt the bone crack, but thankfully Boss Gray just threw him aside before any lasting damage could be left on the leg.

"This! This is exactly what I aspire to end!" Boss Gray shouted. "These impure emotions; this falsity that you call hope!" he grabbed another Hunting Cannon blast off the air, deflecting it single-handedly before launching another swarm of Plug Bombs that shook the ground beneath them. "Hope brings nothing but failure in the face of the inevitable! Failure begets sorrow and rage! You're beginning to feel these emotions, aren't you?" he jumped up onto higher ground to avoid another lightning blast from Liamon, then tracked Izuku as he bounced from jumping point to jumping point, trying to catch the machine Digimon off-guard. "That frustration will only build up inside of you! It will only fuel the Darkness, until it controls your every action!" when Izuku made his attack, Boss Gray easily blocked the kick, but this time Izuku jumped off his arm before he could grab hold of the leg again. "The longer you struggle, the deeper into the abyss you will sink, and drag this whole world down with you!"

He turned, spotting Saiko rapidly working over the main computer, and prepared to aim his missiles at her, only for Izuku to immediately jump in and grab hold of Boss Gray's wrist. Izuku poured all the strength he could try and wrestle with Boss Gray, but the Nanomon overpowered him like he were a small child, lifting Izuku into the air before slamming him down on his back against the metal floor. He would have probably done worse, but a timely intervention by Liamon and Kentarumon lunging at him forced Boss Gray to jump back and avoid them.

"Come on, come on, come on!!" Saiko growled as she poured into every program she could find on the master computer. "There has to be something- A sub-routine; an emergency shutdown; a bloody off switch- anything!"

She flinched when the ground shook again, her nervousness only increasing by the second as the battle raged on behind her. When she looked over her shoulder, her heart sank as she saw Boss Gray pin down Liamon and Kentarumon to the floor with his bare hands, aiming an icy stare directly at her.

"How long until you realize the pointlessness of your-" Boss Gray was interrupted as Izuku jumped him from behind, wrapping his arms around his body and pulling back, actually managing to lift the powerful Digimon off his feet as he jumped into the air and leaned back, and slammed the top of Boss Gray's dome on the ground with an improvised German Suplex. Boss Gray fell to the floor, the glass cracking and a small chunk chipping away, but it didn't do much to slow him down. Getting back up, Boss Gray grabbed hold of Izuku by his throat, and simply hurled him clean across the platform, towards the very edge of it to let him fall into the cavernous abyss. By sheer survival instinct, Izuku managed to grab on to the railing to prevent his fall.

When Liamon and Kentarumon charged again, once again Boss Gray dispatched them by tossing them aside with minimal effort. He aimed his hand in their direction, ready to fire off another round of Plug Bombs at close range, but-

BOOM!

A loud noise echoed throughout the cavern, urging Boss Gray to turn in its direction. It didn't take him long to notice something was amiss, as the elevator was billowing out a lot of smoke, making it obvious as the source of the explosion.

He didn't have to question for long what had caused the blast, however, as the burning Meramon came rushing out from the smoke, hurling fireballs indiscriminately towards Boss Gray. "Crimson Flame! HWAH HA HA!!"

The rest of the humans and Digimon followed suit, Kyouka staring a bit perturbed at how quickly Meramon went on the attack. "We don't even know who the bad guy here is! Settle dowm for a mome-"

"HOLY CRAP, LOOK AT THAT HUGE THING!"shouted Mina as she pointed at the huge slumbering dragon.

A quick glance by Kyouka revealed the battered Liamon and Kentarumon, Izuku crawling back onto the platform, and the giant sleeping dragon in the distance. "...OK, he probably is the bad guy. Let 'em have it!"

With an uproarious laughter, Meramon continued to hurl fireballs at Boss Gray, who nimbly avoided them as he jumped from place to place, also dodging Dobermon and Kabukimon's energy attacks. With the much wider space, Airdramon took flight and rained down air blades on top of Boss Gray, Nanimon immediately following with an Oyaji Punch that was blocked by the diminutive Digimon.

"Midoriya-san!" Itsuka and Yui quickly rushed over to help Izuku climb back onto the platform. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." he assured them before glancing between them. "But... how did you guys get here?"

"Had help..." Yui softly answered, leaving Izuku a bit more confused.

Moments earlier...

Even with the number's advantage, the Chosen were still locked in a stalemate with the Gunmetal Trio. The Sealsdramon slipperiness and speed ensured they weren't getting hit often by their enemies' attacks, allowing them to take advantage of the occasional lucky potshot wherever they could get them.

"At the way things are going, they'll end up wearing down our Digimon!" Itsuka said.

"Thousand needles..." added Yui.

"Come on, Bukibuki-chan!" yelled Mina, "You can take these clowns down!"

"Oh... crap!" Kyouka flinched as she looked down one of the hallways, "We've got company!"

Sure enough, there were dozens more Commandramon rushing towards the area lead by Damemon, and the girls quickly began feeling dread overwhelm them.

"W-What do we do...!?" Itsuka said.

"Th-This is can't be it, right? Right!? W-We gotta think of something!" Mina quickly panicked.

Kyouka tried, but they were completely surrounded, and unable to get the upper hand. As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, as she watched the Commandramon rush towards them, she saw the end drawing near... until-!

"SHOW THESE DRONGOS WHAT WE'RE MADE OF!!"

The sounds of battlecries erupted from down the hallway, and the Commandramon were soon overwhelmed by a bright wave of Psychemon, Gabumon, and even other Commandramon charging at them from behind, catching the dragons by surprise.

The girls could only stare in amazement at first as hope quickly filled back inside of them, watching as Gaogamon leapt from behind the chaos of Psychemon battling Commandramon, swatting aside several of the cyborg dragons, before blasting at the Gunmetal Trio with a Spiral Blow.

And as if fate weren't smiling on them enough, they heard the pounding coming from above as the earth shifted and quaked, before the roof to the bunker came crashing down, a familiar mud bear falling down onto the room, followed suit by a giant blue insect, followed by two equally giant red ones.

"Ah-! Tsuchi-kun!" cheerfully called out Camie.

"And Kabuterimon!?" Itsuka said, surprised to see him along with the Kuwagamon.

The Gunmetal Trio found themselves backed even further against the wall, not only finding their reinforcements overrun, but the stronger Digimon now having their numbers doubled!

"Chosen Ones!" called out Gaogamon, "I'm glad to see we're not too late!"

"Too late? You're right in the nick of time!" Mina cheered, "Our heroes!"

"But, how did you know where to find us?" asked Kyouka, grateful but still very curious.

"A woman dressed in a cloak warned me yesterday that you would be attempting to put an end to the Chroma Army." Gaogamon answered. "I wasn't sure whether to believe her or not, but she was right about the Chroma Army attempting to subdue the Saberdramon."

Kyouka blinked. "A cloaked woman...?" she remembered back to what Saiko had told them, what had happened in Miss Purple's factory, and the figure that had saved her life. Was Miss Black really helping them...?

"I moved as fast as I could to gather allies and help you with your mission. We met with these Chroma Army defectors along the way; they said they owed you their lives when you saved them from an explosion, and lead us to this secret base." he explained, but then realized something. "Aren't there four of you missing?"

Kyouka jolted. "Oh! Crap! Midoriya!"

"We gotta help them!" Mina said.

"Then we'll hold the line here." Gaogamon stated. "Go!"

The other nodded, quickly calling out for their Digimon, and running towards the same direction they'd watched Saiko and Izuku run towards earlier...

"Oyaji Punch!" Nanimon swung a burning red fist at Boss Gray, only to have it blocked again. "Oyaji Punch!!" he threw another fist, and again the machine Digimon defended against it.

"Burning Fist!" Meramon jumped in, swinging his own fiery punches at the Nanomon. "Burning Fist! Burning Fist!! Burning Fist!!!" but even with two Digimon assault him with a flurry of punches, Boss Gray remained practically unperturbed. He summoned the forcefield around himself to shield himself from the blows, and then shattered the barrier so that the shards would collide against Meramon and Nanimon, pushing them both backwards.

He then leapt back to avoid Aidramon's strafing God Tornado, immediately turning around to swat aside Dobermon as he tried to get the jump on him. Then, quickly facing Kabukimon and Kentarumon, he launched another swarm of Plug Bombs at them, the two Digimon quickly jumping to avoid the powerful explosions. But as the Nanomon readied another attack-

Splot!

A poop landed right on his head.

"..." slowly, Boss Gray turned around, seeing Numemon with his arm outstretched, and Geremon looking utterly mortified.

"W-W-W-W-W-WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?" Geremon shouted at his partner.

"W-Well, everyone was doing it... It... seemed like a good idea at the time?" was his partner's only response.

Geremon looked over at Boss Gray, and the sheer murderous intent pouring out of the machine Digimon. "Ghk-! W-Well... if I'm gonna die... TH-THEN I'LL GO DOWN SWINGIN' TOO!" he yelled as he started wildly tossing more excrement at Boss Gray.

Boss Gray was far from impressed, just aiming his hand at the mollusks as he prepared another Plug Bomb assault. "Foolishness, foolishn-"

"Thunder Of King!" Liamon roared as he let out another powerful lightning discharge towards Boss Gray, except this time the attack actually showed some effect on the powerful enemy, his movements slowing down considerably as the electricity coursed through his body.

Watching this happen, Kentarumon quickly deduced: "The damage to his casing! It's left his vital machinery more vulnerable! Everyone; concentrate your fire!" he shouted as he aimed his cannon. "Hunting Cannon!"

"Schwarz Strahl!"

"Crimson Flame!"

"God Tornado!"

"Cherry Blossom Blizzard!"

The combined projectiles connected with their target, blasting Boss Gray with a mighty explosion, sending the Digimon flying backwards through the air in his first real display of vulnerability. He slammed into a wall and fell to the floor, but he didn't stay down for nearly as long as everyone had hoped, and the battle would quickly resume.

As this happened, Camie, Kyouka and Mina rushed over to Saiko's side.

"Saiko-chan, is there any way we can help?" asked Camie.

"We kinda need one of your big brain moves here, Boss Man!" Kyouka said.

Saiko didn't answer straight away, formulating a course of action in her head. "...yes! There is something!" she reached beneath the console, finding a large box of tools. She grabbed a pair of hammers and a screwdriver, shoving them right in their arms. "Start breaking stuff!" she ordered as she wielded an oversized wrench, before letting out a battle cry as she charged at the machines holding the Chroma generals.

"Finally! A plan I can get!" Mina said as she rushed behind Saiko, Kyouka and Camie following suit as they all proceeded to try and tear apart the machines by themselves.

Seeing what the four were doing, Izuku, Itsuka and Yui soon got the idea. Picking up a metal rod, Yui started hitting at everything that seemed even remotely important, while Izuku and Itsuka used their enhanced strength to try and pry open one of the capsules. The sustained damage and interference quickly began overwhelming the machines, sparks soon turning into small explosions, alarm signals blaring as the sensitive equipment was thoroughly tampered with.

Boss Gray quickly realized what was happening, but try as he might, the seven Digimon continued to throw themselves in his way no matter how many times he threw them aside, preventing him from interfering with Saiko and the others' sabotage.

Metal bent and creaked, as Izuku and Itsuka's combined power pried open the chambers one after the other, pulling out the generals from their prisons, starting with Mister Green, and quickly moving on to the others. Soon enough, they'd have all six of the general freed from the chambers and lying on the ground.

"That's all of them!" called out Itsuka.

"OK!" said Kyouka. "...now what!?" she looked over at Saiko as she asked.

"We've neutralized one threat, now we just need to trust our Digimon can bring down Boss Gra-" a loud crash interrupted her, as Kentarumon was slammed right into the master computer. "Kentarumon!" she cried out, but the other Digimon weren't fairing much better.

Boss Gray was noticeably growing more frustrated, his attacks becoming more vicious as he tossed and slammed the Chosen's partners like rag dolls. Kabukimon had her face driven into the floor, Nanimon was tossed nearly across the platform by the arm; Boss Gray trapped Dobermon in a headlock, and slammed his head down into the floor with a DDT, then threw himself at Airdramon to grab her by the tail, and swing her like a lasso before tossing her aside, slamming her into Liamon and Meramon.

"Liamon!" called out Izuku, even as terror began settling in, seeing Boss Gray standing in the middle of the thrown bodies of their Digimon, with barely even a scratch on him.

"D-Damn it, what is this guy!?" Kyouka said in disbelief.

"Bukibuki-chan...!" Mina said, her voice trembling as she felt the pressure begin to press down on them.

"Intelli-san!" Itsuka turned to the girl, praying that she'd have some kinda of plan to help them.

Unfortunately, Saiko was just as frozen in fear as the rest. "Th-...There's no way... he's too powerful... w-we can't do anything...!"

"Saiko-chan, snap out of it!" Camie tried to shake her out of her terror, but it seemed hopeless.

"Hm...!" Yui gripped the metal pipe in her hands, her legs trembling, but still ready to fight if she had to.

"We're not giving up! Not yet!" Izuku said, holding up his fists, just as ready to take on Boss Gray if he had to.

"What... a pain..."

Izuku blinked, seeing the dragon man begin to stand up. "M-Mister Blue...!?"

"You... wretched... dog!" spat out Mister Green as he glared towards Boss Gray. "You really thought... you could just turn on us like that, and leave us to die!?"

"D-...Dang ol' snake in the dang ol' grass!" Mister Red growled.

"I... I did everything for you, Boss... so why!?" Mister Brown shouted. "How dare you do such a thing!?"

At this, Boss Gray only let out a scoff. "You should be thankful. Your sacrifices would have served to aid me in this grand undertaking to save our-"

"Shove it!" Mister Yellow spat out, jumping onto Mister Red's back. "Mister Blue was right about you! And now, we're gonna make you pay!"

Kyouka blinked. "Wait, so... does that mean you guys are on our side?"

Mister Blue let out a snort at this. "Kid, I have no idea what this means. All I know is, I don't much like being used as food to some lab experiment."

"For the moment, we share a common distaste for this tin can!" Mister Green said, "So I'll say, a partnership is most welcome right about now."

"Here, here."

"I'll dang-ol' second that!" Red and Yellow agreed, with Brown nodding affirmatively as well.

"Hmph... And so, your true colors have finally shown." Boss Gray said. "Do you really wish to die as traitors to the Chroma Army cause?"

"Save it! There was never any Chroma Army!" Mister Green shouted.

"This was always only about you." Mister Blue concluded.

"I am the only one capable of saving this world!" Boss Gray exclaimed. "To stand against me is to stand with destruction!"

"What a pain..." Mister Blue scoffed. "You kids, stand back. Everyone! Give him hell!" he shouted as he charged at Boss Gray, followed soon after by the other generals.

Raising a forcefield, Boss Gray shielded himself from Blue's charge, even as it shattered his barrier upon collision; then he deflected the energy beam fired from Green's intact shield, and quickly avoided Red's explosive chili pepper projectiles. Mister Brown tried to swoop down with his talons, but Boss Gray jumped up and onto his back, driving Brown into the floor, then immediately grabbed Red's clubs thrown his way, swinging the plant general up into the air before slamming him back down.

"Strike Fang!" Mister Blue's whole body was covered in searing white-hot flames as he charged towards Boss Gray again, but he was forced to change direction to avoid a series of Plug Bombs sent flying his way. Mister Green jumped in instead, holding out his shield to absorb the force of the explosions from the missiles, before firing it back at Boss Gray. The machine Digimon quickly raised another barrier, which shattered when the energy beam collided against it, but without missing a beat, Boss Gray was already aiming his next attack, before Mister Yellow jumped up from behind, covering his eyes with his hands. Boss Gray flailed his body, successfully throwing Yellow off of him, but opening him up to getting slammed by Blue's Strike Fang, being sent flying backwards from the explosive impact.

Despite this, Boss Gray still easily got back on his feet, blocking a punch and a kick coming from Nanimon and Kabukimon, and pushing them aside before slamming a fist into a charging Kentarumon, and an uppercut to Airdramon as she dove towards him. Meramon and Dobermon than charged in, along with Liamon, but Boss Gray shoved the large hound from successfully biting his arm, and struck Meramon in the stomach to get him to fall over. Liamon lunged at him, but Boss Gray sidestepped and grabbed the lion by his tails, swinging the big cat around before tossing him away.

Liamon landed roughly on his side but still pushed himself to his feet, gathering lightning in his mane- "Thunder Of King!" which struck the Nanomon and slowed down his movement long enough for him to shout: "EVERYONE! ATTACK!"

"Hunting Cannon!"

"Schwarz Strahl!"

"Generous Mirror!"

"Poop Toss!"

The combined energy blasts from Kentarumon, Dobermon and the Mercuremon sent Boss Gray stumbling backwards after the excrement from Geremon and Numemon distracted him, getting him to flinch in pain for the first time.

"Crimson Flame!"

"Spinning Needle!"

"Red Hot Machine Gun!"

"Infrared Ray!"

The followup attacks by Meramon, Airdramon, the RedVegimon and the Owlmon only further forced the Nanomon backwards, coming too fast for him to be able to block them.

"Oyaji Punch!"

"Lion Dance!"

"Strike Claw!"

The last three, Nanimon, Kabukimon and the Strikedramon, all charged at the weakened Nanomon, colliding with their burning fists, spinning petals, and flaming claws to launch the machine Digimon in a final combined attack, sending him flying towards the very end of the platform. He crashed onto the floor, smoke billowing from his scuffed and burnt body, and for once, Boss Gray struggled to get back on his feet.

But despite the small victory, things were looking dire. The Digimon were growing much too tired, many of them having been battling for what felt like hours, while the generals still felt the effects of their torture. To see Boss Gray still stand back up, even after all the punishment, struggling or otherwise, wasn't a very uplifting sight.

"It's about time... I put an end to this...!" Boss Gray growled as he aimed his hands, reading to unleash another swarm of Plug Bombs against the opposing Digimon, before-

"BOSS!" a pair of arms wrapped around Boss Gray, lifting off the ground and into the embrace of the Porcupamon.

"Miss Purple!? What are you-"

"Boss! D-Do you remember...what I told you once... I said I'd die for you... I said I would die if it meant that your vision came to light!" Miss Purple said, sobbing beneath her hazard suit. "Your plan... these fools, th-they don't understand... they don't understand the beauty of your master plan! B-But I do! I do! F-For you glory, I will see to it... I WILL SEE TO IT YOUR WISH IS FULFILLED!"

"Purple! Step away from him!" Mister Blue shouted.

"You crazy fool, can't you see he's just been using you!?" yelled back Mister Green.

"SILENCE!" shouted Miss Purple. "I DON'T CARE! I DEVOTED MYSELF TO BOSS GRAY! BODY AND SPIRIT! BEING USED BY HIM IS THE GREATEST HONOR I COULD HOPE TO ACHIEVE!" she raised an arm, slamming it into the control panel that sat besides her chamber.

"Miss Purple, what are you doing!?" Boss Gray asked, sounding concerned as he was held in her arms.

"They don't understand.. they never understood... sacrifices must be made... sacrifices must always be made!" Purple repeated in a mad haze, throwing herself back into the chamber, the tubes quickly attaching themselves to her as well as Boss Gray. "BOSS GRAY! THIS WILL BE OUR DESTINY! OUR BODIES GIVEN TO GRIMMON, OFFERED AS HIS SACRIFICE! TO AWAKEN A NEW ERA! AN ERA OF SALVATION! ETERNAL GLORY TO THE CHROMA ARMY!!"

"No! You fool! Unhand me this inst-aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" before he could protest any further, the chamber began harvesting every last drop of Dark Energy from both Digimon, sparks and smoke erupting from the machine as it malfunctioned while working at full power.

"Stand back!" shouted Itsuka, just as the machine reached its limits, exploding in a bright flash of light, the feedback causing the other chambers to overload and explode too. The cavern was filled with the sounds of explosions, crackling fire and black smoke. It lasted less than a minute, but nobody was left unshaken by the explosions, until they finally went silent...

"Did... did we win?" Mina cautiously asked, hands still held over her head protectively as she ducked on the floor.

Izuku tried to peer through the smoke. "Boss Gray and Miss Purple... they're-... they're gone..."

"...that's good, right?" Mina asked, allowing some optimism back in her voice, but quickly shrinking when she saw everyone else still seemed on edge.

"What do you think happened...?" Itsuka asked.

"I couldn't even begin to guess." Kyouka said.

"It... would seem that Miss Purple purposefully overloaded the machine meant to harvest Dark Energy..." Saiko deduced. "But with all the damage done to it already, it was simply too much, and it... well..."

"Went boom!" Camie concluded her thought.

"Y-Yes, quite..."

"Mm..." Yui rather uncomfortably said, her eyes focused on the giant dragon.

Izuku glanced at her, quickly getting what she was feeling. "Yeah... I-it's giving me the creeps too..." he looked over at the slumbering dragon, and for a moment, let himself finally relax.

That moment was short-lived, however.

Because the dragon was now staring back...

"Huff... puff... huff... Aaaagh! F-Finally...! I'm here!"

Fugamon leaned on his bone club, which he had been using as a walking staff on his trek up the mountain.

"Puff... puff... I-I can't believe this...! I can't believe those jerks left me behind! In an exploding factory, no less!" he grumbled at nobody but himself. "That's unforgivable! And just plain unsafe! They'll be hearing from my lawyer, they will!"

He huffed as he approached the secret entrance to the bunker. He never could remember what the rock was that actually opened the elevator, though, so he wasn't looking forward to-

"Eh? It's open already?" he blinked, seeing the elevator shaft wide open, as if something big had tore open the doors. He could see marks on them; they looked like Kuwagamon hand prints, which was strange since there weren't any Kuwagamon in the mountains.

Well, whatever! Why should he worry about that; he was still mad at being left to die like he did!

He approached the elevator shaft, ready to push the button and call it over, when-

Rumble!

The ground began to shake.

"W-What now!? J-Just my luck; a-a-an earthquake!?"

The ground only quaked with more and more intensity with each second, the earth cracking and breaking from the strain coming from below. Rocks tumbled from further up the mountain as it shook increasingly violently, until one last mighty quake finally shattered it. A gaping hole opened up on the side of the mountain, and from it, an enormous black dragon emerged with a deafening roar.

Fugamon shrieked as he quickly turned around, and started running in the exact opposite direction. "I DON'T GET PAYED ENOUGH FOR THIIIIIIIS!!!"

Elsewhere, with the aid of Kabuterimon, the Kuwagamon, along with Airdramon, everyone managed to escape out of the holes punched into the bunker and back out onto the surface. Weary and battered, but lacking the option to relax just yet, as the Devil Dragon's fearsome roar shook the air.

"W-What do we do now!?" Mina fearfully asked.

"I-It's alright, Mina-chan! I'll protect-hrk...!" Kabukimon doubled over despite her best attempts, dropping down to one knee. The other Digimon weren't doing much better, all exhausted.

"Th-This is bad! Like, way bad!" Camie worriedly placed her hands on Dobermon. "You guys need to rest!"

"B-But... that monster is loose..." Dobermon tried to argue. "We cannot back down just yet..."

"CH...O...S-S-SEN... ONES...!!!"

Izuku flinched as the cold voice reverberated in the air, quickly turning back towards the Devil Dragon. "That voice... Boss Gray!?"

"I-It can't be!" Saiko squeaked.

"MY... WILL... SHALL NOT BE... EXTINGUISHED!!" the dragon roared. "I... I HAVE BECOME... ONE... WITH MY INSTRUMENT OF SALVATION... I HAVE BECOME... THE ONE TRUE SAVIOR!!"

"You've become even more cuckoo bananas, is what ya did!" Nanimon shouted back.

"Yeah! The crap you're selling, we're not buying! So take a hike!" yelled Meramon.

The dragon slowly turned, facing the gathering of human and Digimon. "THERE WAS A TIME... WHEN I CONSIDERED SPARING... YOUR MISERABLE ISLAND... BUT NOW YOU SHALL WITNESS... ITS DISMEMBERMENT!!" the beast roared, aiming its cannon arm into the skies as a furious ball of energy gathered before it. The vibrant ball exploded into many streaks of light, flying in wild patterns as they scattered, before crashing into the ground like missiles, creating earth-shattering explosions in their wake.

As Psychemon and Commandramon scattered in a panic, Gaogamon stepped up, his eyes firmly locked onto Grimmon. "We must stop this monster at all costs! Tsuchidarumon! Kabuterimon! Let's go!" he yelled out before charging straight towards the dragon. Kabuterimon roared in return, taking flight along with his Kuwagamon followers, as they also went straight for Grimmon. Charging up a Mega Blaster, the powerful shockball had almost no effect on the fearsome beast, Grimmon completely ignoring the attack and nearly cleaving Kabuterimon and his followers in half with the large scythe on its left arm.

But then, a shrill screech pierced through the air, and a whole flock of a dozen Saberdramon came flying down from the skies, unleashing a fiery rain with their burning feathers onto the dragon. But even their combined attack showed no effect, and the Saberdramon were nearly shot out of the sky by another blast from Grimmon's canon. With the distraction, Tsuchidarumon punched the ground so hard that it summoned a mudslide, getting the dragon to slide further down the side of the mountain and nearly tumble to the foot of it. But a flare of its wings quickly righted Grimmon back up, and it fired off another mighty shot that just narrowly avoided Tsuchidarumon, and tore a gaping hole on the side of Repeat Mountain.

Before Grimmon could ready another shot, several more monsters appear from beneath the nearby river, as a school of Seadramon unleashed their freezing breaths to try and halt the dragon's advances, but to no avail as Grimmon powered through the ice that had formed on its arm, and with a single cleave of its scythe, he cracks such a large fissure on the ground that the entire river trembled and overflowed, the raging rapids tossing the Seadramon everywhere.

"Everyone... everyone is fighting..." Airdramon said.

"How can we just sit back, and not do the same!" Liamon roared.

"With the last of my strengths... I will fight until I can no longer fight!" Kentarumon shouted before charging forward, the other Digimon following behind, but a whirlwind of blades intercepted them, the Gunmetal Trio jumping in front of their paths.

"For the glory of Boss Gray, none of you shall take one step closer to-GWNHH!" Gunmetal-1 let out a choke as he got blasted by one of Mister Green's Generous Mirror energy blasts, the rest of the Chroma generals right behind him.

"We'll handle these clown! Go! Bring that overgrown snake down!" Green shouted, the generals quickly lunging at the Gunmetal Trio and engaging in battle, keeping them busy while the rest attacked Grimmon.

As ally and former foe joined forces to battle the Devil Dragon, the seven humans could only stand back and watch, much as it pained them to do so.

"We have to do something! Like, we can't just sit on our butts either!" Camie said.

"And just what do you expect us to do!" Saiko retorted.

"Y-Yeah! We can't do anything against that thing with our Quirks the way they are!" Mina agreed.

"Even if we had our Quirks as normal, I don't know if we could be of any help..." Kyouka added.

"S-Still, there must be something we can do to help, right?" Itsuka asked, looking around for anyone to back her up.

"Mh..." was Yui's only retort, as she seemed a bit distracted. "Midoriya..." everyone looked over, and sure enough, Izuku seemed more deep in thought than panicking like they were.

"Midori-kun...?" Mina blinked.

"Hey! Earth to Midoriya!" said Kyouka. "We're kinda in the middle of a situation here!"

Izuku didn't react straight away, his eyes locked firmly on the ground as he pieced things together in his brain coherently enough to be able to speak them. "Boss Gray... he said... that our Digivices created Dark Energy..." he grabbed the small device that he still carried, holding it up to inspect it closer. "And... that might be true... but I don't think that's the whole story."

The other blinked, Saiko frowning slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"Back then, when Spadamon Digivolved into-... into that thing... I think the Digivice is what did that, yes..." Izuku continued, "But it was also the Digivice that brought Spadamon back!"

"O-Oh... Oh!" Saiko tapped her fist on her palm, "That's right! That brilliant light!"

Izuku nodded. "I think, even if the Digivices have the power to create Dark Energy, they also have the power to take it!"

"I'm confused, what are we even talking about!?" Mina said.

"We'll explain later!" Saiko said, her own mind quickly starting to work. "I think I see what Midoriya-kun is getting at... That monster, Grimmon, is created out of Dark Energy. If the Digivice can indeed purify, or even destroy Dark Energy, then we may just have a chance at weakening it!"

"Exactly!" Izuku nodded.

"That's great!" Camie clapped, "I knew one of you would find a way!"

"Alright, so, what do we need to do?" Itsuka asked.

Izuku answered by turning around and pointing. "We need to get on that cliff."

"W-Woah woah, you want to get closer to that Grimey-thingy!?" Mina jolted.

"We have to get close. If we then all aim our Digivices at Grimmon, then we might just have an effect on him, and turn this battle around!"

"'Might'...?" Kyouka frown, "That doesn't exactly instill much confidence..."

"Hmm..." Yui muttered in agreement.

Izuku flinch, shrinking slightly as some of the wind got knocked out of his sails. "W-Well... I don't know exactly how this works, s-so... there is still a chance it might not work, I-I won't lie..."

"But it's the best plan we've got!" Saiko quickly picked up where Izuku's confidence had waned. "Now come on! We need to get atop that cliff!"

With that, the seven Chosen made their way further up the mountain, ready to stare the dragon in the face if it meant making even the smallest of difference...

Fire. Electricity. Wind. Ice. Energy beams.

No matter what was thrown at the Devil Dragon, it refused to even acknowledge it. Grimmon only roared, and with a single swing of one of its arms, it could take down three, maybe five of its opponents; one blast of its cannon, and it completely changed the topography of the land it utterly destroyed; the wind summoned whenever it flapped its wings would tear trees right off the soil.

Whichever way they looked at it, they could describe Grimmon as seemingly invincible.

Liamon threw himself at the Devil Dragon, but it swatted him aside like a fly. Airdramon and Kabuterimon strafed by, bombing him from the skies with the aid of the Saberdramon, but they were nearly blasted by Grimmon's cannon. The Seadramon combines their powers with Kentarumon and Dobermon, Kabukimon and Meramon providing covering fire as Kanimon rushed in to punch at the serpentine dragon's body, but a swift swing of its tail pushed everything away. Even the Commandramon combined their forces, seeing the threat indiscriminately fires into their ranks, and joined with the Psychemon to focus their fire on the dragon, but a mere swipe of its wings created a powerful enough gust of wind to send the smaller Digimon flying.

As the battle raged on, the seven Chosen humans had made their way over to the cliff closest to Grimmon, risking their safety to be able to get as near to him as possible.

"OK, so, how does this work exactly?" Kyouka asked.

"Uhm... I'm not sure, exactly!" Izuku answered in the worst way possible. "I just... aimed the Digivice out of instinct, and it did stuff!"

"Well I'm aiming it now, and it's not doing anything!" Mina yelled through the roars and explosions of the battle, as she waved her Digivice in front of her to no effect.

"Are you sure you didn't click on any of the buttons?" asked Itsuka, but she looked beside her as Yui tried to do just that, only to wave her head as nothing got the device to do much of anything.

"Blast these useless things! Why do they only seem to work when we're close to death!?" Saiko cursed.

"Come on, guys! Don't lose hope!" Camie tried to reinvigorate everyone's spirits, "Like, these things are magic, right? Maybe if we just believe hard enough, they'll blast that beastie sky high!"

Saiko just faced her with an unimpressed expression. "That's your best suggestion? Just clap very hard and sing 'I believe'!?"

"Well I'm not hearing anything better coming from you, Miss Brainiac!" Camie snapped back, getting Saiko to bristle over the nerve of her to-

"Uhm... guys!?"

Izuku brought everyone back to attention, as they noticed the Devil Dragon had turned its sights onto them.

"FOO...LISH...NESS...!!" the monster raised its left arm, slamming it so hard against the side of the mountain it threatened to collapse the entire cliff the humans stood on. They all screamed, dropping to their hands and knees as they lost their balance.

"D-...Damn it...!" Izuku coughed, pushing himself back to his feet as he aimed his Digivice at the dragon. "We won't let you win! No matter what, WE WILL STOP YOU!"

And finally, there was light.

Izuku's Digivice shone brightly as it launched a beam of holy brilliance which struck the body of the Devil Dragon, causing it for the first time to roar out on pain. The others felt their own Digivices begin to surge with power immediately after, and aimed them to allow their own beams of light to launch out of their devices, and strike Grimmon as it flinched and tried to defend itself from the burning glare.

"It's working!" shouted Saiko as the light only grew in intensity, actually becoming harder to look into with how brightly it shone.

"Keep it up, everyone!" Camie yelled as everyone held their Digivices firmly aloft, the searing light aimed squarely on the Devil Dragon.

But the light was so great that none of them could see the dragon begin to amass power in its cannon, and aim it down on them all.

"IZUKU!!"

Just as Grimmon fired another blast, Liamon and the other Digimon dove in as fast as they could in front of it, being caught in the immense explosion. The light died down, allowing the seven Chosen to watch in horror as their Digimon came flying towards them in their rookie forms, everyone moving as quickly as they could to grab hold of their injured forms as they fell from the sky.

Camie fell to her knees the moment she grabbed hold of Labramon, holding him gently but panic quickly settling in. "Labramon! Labramon, say something!"

"Hey, Neemon! Quit messing around!" Kyouka said as she carefully shook the Digimon in her arms.

"Dracomon...! Dracomon, please say something!" Itsuka pleaded as her eyes watered.

"Raurau-chan..." Mina could only stare in horror as Alraumon didn't move on her lap.

"Candmon... Candmon...!" Yui shook her partner, her usual expressionless face showing visible distress as the flame atop Candmon's slowly diminished in intensity.

"B-...Bakomon... Bakomon, d-don't you dare! I-I command you to say something, right now!" Saiko tried her best, but Bakomon remained limp in her arms.

Izuku couldn't even say anything, just left staring at Spadamon, his snow-white coat stained with his own blood. "S-...Spadamon..." his grip on the injured lion tightened, his whole body shaking with rage. "SPADAMON!!!"

A low rumble left Grimmon's throat as he was finally given reprieve from the holy light, and raised his cannon once again. "FOOLS... EVEN... IF ALL NINE W-...ERE TOGETHER... COULD NOT... STOP... S-STOP ME...!! IT... IS... FUTILE! I AM... INVINCIBLEEEE! I... AM... A-AM... S-SAAALLLLLLVVAAAATIIOOOON...!!! I... R-RRRAAAAAAAUUUUGGH!!! WUURRAAAAAAAHHH!!"

Izuku couldn't even register the monster's loss of reasoning happening before him, still holding to the body of his partner.

"...I...zu...ku..." the young lion feebly spoke.

"Spadamon!" Izuku quickly held him tightly as the lion showed signs of life. "Spadamon, it's gonna be OK! I'll get you out of here, and-"

"Iz...uku... even-...even if I fail... I-I still... have to keep trying, don't I...?" he weakly grinned up at the boy. "A Hero... doesn't... give up... saving others..."

Grimmon's cannon charged up with a vicious energy ball, dyeing the area a crimson red as it aimed it down at the Chosen.

Izuku let his tears freely fall from his eyes, dripping down onto the Digivice that lay on the ground.

They could only stare in horror as Grimmon fired the blast towards them, completely engulfing the area in its wake, and erupting into a powerful explosion that utterly devastated the mountainside.

A giant black cloud of billowed from the impact zone... and from it, a brilliant multi-colored light shone.

"Spadamon... you're absolutely right."

As the smoke cleared, it revealed a rainbow-hued barrier protecting the Chosen and their Digimon, their Digivices glowing with power.

"Even in their darkest hour, a Hero never gives up protecting others!"

The Chosen looked in awe, first at the fact they survived thanks to the barrier erected by their Digivices, but then because they noticed the change that had overcome Izuku.

He felt it all over his body. The sheer power that coursed through his veins, and spread out throughout his entire body. The power that crackled like lightning that surrounded him, his whole body glowing, his hair becoming like green fire. This was a sensation he'd long hoped to achieve. Something he was still much to weak to access in his current form. For all he knew, this would probably end up killing him... but he wasn't going to let this miracle go to waste.

One For All... 100%!!

He stepped aside, gently placing Spadamon close to Camie, who she quickly took into her arms along with Labramon.

"Izu...kun...?" she uttered in astonishment at the sight of the boy.

"Please, keep him safe. And get as far away from here as you can." was all Izuku said as he turned to face Grimmon once more.

"W-Wait!" called out Saiko, "You're not planning on-" but before she could finish, a potent gust of wind nearly knocked her off her feet, the sheer speed that Izuku had taken off being enough to do that.

In the blink of an eye, the glowing form of Izuku had gotten face to face with the Devil Dragon, spinning rapidly and connecting with an earth-shattering roundhouse kick. The impact was so great it sounded like thunder, causing the air to quiver and Grimmon's head to snap to the side, sending the dragon hurtling down to the ground. He collided so fiercely that the earth quaked and broke beneath it.

Izuku then kicked the air, causing such a ferocious amount of wind pressure that he changed his course midair. As Grimmon stood back up, it swung its scythe to collide with Izuku, but he leapt up and over the attack in the air, practically flying by simply kicking hard enough, and approached the Devil Dragon once more. In the span of a single second, one hundred fist imprints appeared on the dragon's chest, each blow coming striking in at nearly the exact same time with such force that it pushed Grimmon back several dozen feet. The dragon roared in fury, but by the time it turned to face Izuku he was already gone, running up the length of Grimmon's body to deliver a vicious uppercut to the monster's chin, hurtling the dragon upwards into the sky.

"IM...POOOOOSSSSSII...BLE...!!!!"

Leaping from side to side, Izuku launched himself clear towards the heavens after the dragon.

"A Hero makes the impossible possible!" Izuku shouted. "They shatter every limit, and push farther than ever before to save everyone!!"

Grimmon held out its wings, stopping its ascent and letting it turn directions, diving straight towards Izuku.

"That's why... we hold our heads up high! And shout... Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!!!"

Izuku spun out of Grimmon's path at the very last second, dashing past the dragon and grabbing a tight hold around one of his wings as he flew by. Izuku then pulled, forcing Grimmon's entire body backwards and over Izuku's, the boy arching his whole form backwards and aiming Grimmon down, sending him hurtling head-first against the floor, the impact going off like a missile when they landed. The ground took multiple seconds to stop shaking as it cracked and opened beneath the awesome might of the impact, the air pressure created from it even tipping over several trees in the vicinity.

Kicking off of the dragon's back, Izuku landed on the ground. His whole body was tingling, but he could feel the pain creeping in as his power was slowly but surely devastating his body.

Unfortunately, his work was far from down, as Grimmon freed itself from the crater on the ground from its impact, and let out a beastly roar, all rationality gone from the monster and leaving behind only a monstrous husk seeking destruction. With all inhibitions let loose, when Grimmon next moved it was with incredible speed, so fast that even Izuku didn't have the time to move out of its way.

His teeth clenched.

He felt power in his hands beyond that one One For All.

He felt that warm light gather in his body, ready to be set loose.

As the dragon approached, Izuku raised up his arm, fire and light in his eyes as he flicked a finger with one hand, sending such a powerful gust of air that it halted Grimmon's charge. He then balled up his other hand, which glowed with the awesome power of the holy light, and swung it with the full might gifted to him.

"1,000,000% DELAWARE DETROIT SMASH!!!"

The fist connected with the destructive power of a meteor, shooting the dragon backwards until he collided straight into the mountainside, causing the entire mountain to quake violently. A brilliant light remained stamped on the point of impact from Izuku's fist, that light soon growing in intensity as it burned up the dragon's body. Slowly, Grimmon's form began to dissipate in glowing light that floated towards the sky.

In the span of sixty seconds, the dragon was gone, only the destruction left in its wake being a reminder that it was ever there, as peace befell the area...

"Midoriya-kun!" Saiko yelled.

The boy sat on a rock, his form disheveled, his clothes in utter ruins, but most noticeably, his arms a complete and utter wreck.

"Holy crap!" shouted Mina, "M-Midori-kun, are you OK!?"

Izuku raised his head and gave them all a very tired smile. "I'm... kinda used to it..."

"That doesn't make this OK!" Saiko bristled. "You utter fool! What were you thinking facing that monster by yourself!? You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I... I had to try... right?" he answered with another tired smile, before slowly beginning to fall, quickly being caught by Yui even as she held on to Candmon.

"Heh..." chuckled Spadamon in Camie's arms, "Yeah... that's right..."

"Geez, look at you actin' all cool-guy on us!" Camie sighed with a light giggle. "And here I thought were just so super plain! You've been hiding out on me, Izu-kun!"

He blinked, a bit lost as to what Camie was saying, but feeling like he should probably be blushing (he was definitely already blushing).

"But... it's really over, isn't it...?" Itsuka said, looking over at the destroyed area around them.

"Looks that way..." Kyouka said, looking over at the impact crater left behind by the dragon.

"H-Heyy... heyy..." Neemon weakly raised his arm, "Camie-chan... I-I was a pretty cool guy too... don't you think...?"

Camie chuckled quietly. "Of course you were! All of you were way ultra-cool! You saved our lives!"

Labramon squirmed a bit in her grasp out of embarrassment. "It's... the least we could do..."

"Dracomon always protect Itsuka...!" the little dragon said with as much vigor as she could muster.

"Ha... ha... did you see me out there, Yui...? I was all... wham... and, bam... pretty cool, huh?"

Yui actually managed a smile down at her partner as she nodded her head. "Mhm... pretty cool..."

"Mina-chan, I'm so glad you're safe..."

"I-I'm the one who should be saying that, you dummy!" Mina quickly embraced her partner tightly as tears fell down her eyes. "I-I thought you were a goner!"

"Intelli-san..." Bakomon slowly raised his hand in a salute. "Reporting... for duty..."

Saiko blinked and sighed, giving him a small but earnest smile. "You did good, Bakomon. Thank you."

The sound of cheering soon grew in volume, and they all raised their heads. In the distance they could see all of their Digimon allies hollering in victory, Psychemon and Gabumon, Commandramon and Kuwagamon, the mollusks Geremon and Numemon, Gaogamon, Kabuterimon and Tsuchidarumon, and even the Chroma generals cheering in relief at the battle's end.

Mister Blue soon approached the Chosen, his own body battered and bruised, but he held himself with a level of pride he hadn't felt in a long time. "Gray filled our heads with the idea you kids would be the end of the world as we know it... but after what just happened, I think I speak for all of us when I say..." he raised his hand, giving them a thumbs up. "You kids are alright. Crazy as all hell. But alright."

Izuku managed a weak chuckle. "Th-Thank you, Mister Blue..."

"What happened to the Gunmetal Trio?" Kyouka felt it prudent to ask.

"They got away, I'm afraid." Mister Green answered. "But without Boss Gray ordering them around, they shouldn't be an issue. They were mercenaries more than anything."

"Then... that's it...?" Itsuka still wasn't sure how to feel. "What happens to the Chroma Army?"

"Officially done for." Mister Blue assured them.

"We'll make sure of it. You have my word." Mister Green said with a bow. "We won't bother the inhabitants of the island any further, or anyone else for that matter. You have our deepest of apologies, and our most sincere of gratitudes for saving our lives."

"It was nothing, really!" Camie cheerfully said.

"Even if you did try to kill us on multiple occasions." Kyouka sarcastically added.

"Saving people in need is just... what Heroes do." Izuku said with a winning smirk.

Chapter Text

"Midori-kun, you better be presentable because we're comin' in!"

Mina immediately drew open the curtain on the doorway, her eyes shining with fiendish intentions... but quickly grew disappointed as she saw Izuku sitting on the bed, clothed in a poncho.

"Darn it..." she pouted.

"Uhm... hi?" he said, a bit confused, but glad to see everyone there. Both human and Digimon all entered the room, quickly surrounding him.

"Midoriya-san, how are your arms...?" Itsuka worriedly questioned, looking over the bandaged and splinted arms.

"Well, they don't hurt nearly as much, which is good!" he assured them, even stiffly moving his arms up and down slightly to show he wasn't in any terrible pain.

"So, like, are you gonna be OK?" Camie wondered, "You won't have to become a scarecrow or anything, right?"

Kyouka and Neemon both blinked at this, just looking at her while mouthing: "Scarecrow...?"

"Oh! OH! But what if we could replace his arms with robot ones!" Candmon excitedly suggested. "That'd make him wicked strong too! Wouldn't that be a great idea, Yui!"

"Mh..." was her only response, her mind conjuring up images of a giant mecha Izuku. "Mhm..."

"Your friend should be fine, if he gets the proper rest."

A quiet voice spoke from the other end of the room, as the small creature approached. Her body was white as snow, except for her vibrant blue arms shaped like the wings of a butterfly; four more wings sat atop her head, and a pair of lengthy antennae over her beady black eyes.

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Morphomon

Level III

Type: Insect

Attribute: Moral

A carefree Digimon with arms and ears shaped like a butterfly's wings. It is cautious when meeting new people, poking them with its antennae to determine whether they are trustworthy or not. Its special move, Rinrin Therapy, unleashes scales from its wings that act as a soothing natural painkiller.

------

"Thank you for everything, doctor. I really do feel a lot better!"

"No need to thank me; it was the least I could do." Morphomon smiled. "And even then, I only did what I could; I'm afraid Header Town only has so many resources. I'm not going to lie and say the damage sustained to your arms doesn't worry me, especially with the history you've told me about this not being the first time this has happened to you, but I lack the ability to see the extent of the internal damage caused. But I can at least tell you, as long as you don't exert any further pressure in your arms, they should heal properly in about three months."

Izuku flinched at this. "Th-Three months!? That long...?"

"Isn't there anything at all you can do to speed that up?" Spadamon asked.

"Be thankful you still have arms that can heal at all. Now, eat this carrot." she flapped her wings to jump up, shoving a carrot right in Izuku's mouth for him to chew on. "It's good for your body."

"So, is he able to walk still? We can't just sit around for three months waiting for him!" Saiko said, but Morphomon quickly nodded her head.

"Intelli-san, that's a bit cold, don't you think...?" Bakomon quietly said.

"The damage to his legs wasn't nearly as severe, thankfully. He's free to move around, but I would advise against running a marathon for at least one week."

"Well, without the Chroma Army around, we shouldn't have many reasons to be on the run anymore." Kyouka optimistically said.

"Should be pretty smooth sailing from here to home, ain't that right?" Mina playfully bumped her fist against Izuku's shoulder, getting him to flinch with a painful squeak.

"Y-Yeah... here's hoping..."

"Well, with all of that out of the way, I suggest you all get ready." Morphomon said

"Ready?" Alraumon blinked.

"May I ask what for?" Labramon wondered.

Morphomon just looked over at the Chosen with a smile. "For the celebrations, of course!

Header Town was a noticeable departure from all the other villages they had visited. Instead of simple farms made out of wood and straw, Header Town was built entirely out of stone, making for much more solid constructions. The whole town was surrounded by large, ancient stone walls that had kept them safe from the Chroma Army's advances, and all of the farms located within the walls assured they had plenty of food to have attempted to stall out the siege for several more months.

There weren't just many stone huts erected around the large town, but also much larger buildings that served other purposes, such as a farmer's market, an indoor sporting arena, and various temples. The whole area was an impressive sight to behold, really giving the humans the impression that they were traveling among an ancient civilization... at least, if it weren't for the decisively modern streetlamps dotting all of the streets, and even the remains of a discontinued train track that crossed the town.

Needless to say, Header Town wasn't any less confusing of a contradiction as anywhere else in the archipelago.

Currently, the town was in a state of revelry, as loud cheering and music filled the streets in celebration of victory. Hundreds of Digimon, not just the citizens of Header Town, but of other settlements as well like Psychemon, Gabumon and Jellymon, gathered in the streets to celebrate their saviors, as the Chosen were offered the special seat atop a sizable temple where they could watch over the festivities. There was plenty of food to go around for everyone, wonderful feasts of ground meat and hearty vegetables, which the humans and their Digimon partners gladly accepted.

"Man, I've always dreamed of having a big parade thrown for me!" Mina said as she cheered along with the celebrations, "But to have one before even becoming a Pro? That's crazy! Wait till everyone back home hears about this!"

"I bet they'll be so jealous of you, Mina-chan!" Alraumon giggled.

"This must be how it feels like to be All Might..." Kyouka said with a smirk. "Yeah, I could get used to it."

"I second that!" Neemon said as he took a big bite out of a mega-sized chunk of meat.

"Still, doesn't this feel a bit... extravagant?" Itsuka wondered. "I mean, it's not like we did this just to get a big celebration..."

"Perhaps not, but the people of this town clearly wish to express their thanks to us." Saiko explained as she enjoyed a bowl of rice, "It would be rude of us to deny them that, even out of a sense of humility."

"Intelli-san can be thoughtful of others' feelings after all." Bakomon proudly said, getting Saiko to flinch.

"W-What's that supposed to mean!?"

Itsuka managed to gain a more relaxed smile. "W-Well... I suppose you're right, Intelli-san..."

"Girl, you gotta lighten up a bit!" Camie quickly wrapped an arm around Itsuka's shoulders, "It's not like we're being showered in gold or bowed to like gods! It's just a big ol' party, and everyone's invited!"

"As long as we don't let it get to our heads, it's fine to enjoy a little praise every now and then." Labramon sagely added.

"Itsuka's just too nice! That's why Dracomon thinks she's the best!" the little dragon cheered for her partner, getting Itsuka to blush a bit.

Camie then glanced aside, gaining an amused little smirk. "Speaking of lightening up...~"

Nearby, Izuku was pouring sweat, his face a mortified pale as he had to deal with an aspect of the Hero profession he was woefully underqualified for...

"Hey, hey, you're the guy, right' The one who brought down that huge dragon?"

"Wow, that's so cool! I hear you even got to punch Boss Gray in the face!"

"Well I heard he took out an entire battalion of Commandramon all on his own!"

"I heard his arms were already broken before he even fought the giant dragon, and still won!"

Dealing with admiring fans, as he was surrounded by Fairimon, Galgomon, Harpymon and Tailmon, several of the brave warriors who'd helped defend Header Town, who each showered him with admiration over increasingly outlandish rumors regarding what had transpired during the battle with Boss Gray.

"Uhm- Well- Y-You see- Th-Th-That's not- Wh- I- Wheeze!" Izuku failed to say.

"Where are you even hearing these ridiculous stories?" Spadamon sighed. "Honestly, some people don't know how to curb their own imagination."

"I heard you also stood your ground against Boss Gray single-handedly! That's so brave of you!" a Tailmon swooned.

"..." and slowly, Spadamon's face grew very red. "Uhm, well, y-you see, th-th-that's not- wheeze!"

Camie giggled quietly with amusement as she watched Izuku and Spadamon practically melt from all the attention, until-

"ATTEN-SHUN!!"

A gruff voice immediately got all the other Digimon to stand at attention, as a tall woman stepped forward, clad in tiger-print clothing, with a long cape, and a yellow dragon-shaped helmet covering her head, with matching gauntlets and boots. Accompanying her was, with no hyperbole, an actual angel, with two large feathered wings, bright golden hair that fell down her back, clad in all white except for the magenta breechcloth, and the ribbons that tied around her right leg and left arm; on her head sat a helmet that obscured the top of her face, and there were four metal studs seemingly punctured onto her chest and stomach.

"You're here to ensure the safety of the town, not to lark about with the festivities!" the oni woman said, swinging her massive spiked bat. "Back on patrol, all of you! Hurry! Hurry!" she ordered, the rest of the Digimon quickly saluting her and running off in multiple directions at her command.

"You should go easy on them, Kinkakumon." the angel gently said. "The battle is over, and our foes gone. Is there really such need for this much security?"

"Hrmph! You're much too soft, Pidmon!" the oni woman argued. "I'll say when we can let down our guard; I don't trust those blasted Chroma nuisances! For all we know, they're just waiting to catch us with our pants down before they strike again!"

------

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Kinkakumon

Level IV

Type: Oni

Attribute: Wrathful

A fearsome oni warrior whose heart pounds excitedly for all matters of war and love. It will rush headfirst into any situation with boundless exhilaration, so it's prone to wild misunderstandings and premature assumptions. With its Dokidokidokyuun special move it charges an immense electrical charge in its body, and is capable of either blasting it like a cannon for offense, or coat her body with lightning for defense.

Pidmon

Level IV

Type: Angel

Attribute: Moral

A holy defender clad in white cloth. Wielding its golden Holy Rod, it is a gentle Digimon whose heart burns with a strong sense of justice, and the desire to protect the meek and helpless. Its special move is Fire Feather, which launches the white feathers in its wings like burning meteors to smite evil.

------

"You worry too much, Kinkakumon." Pidmon sighed.

"Yeah! Those Chroma butts won't bother you any more!" Mina confidently said. "The Chosen made sure of that~"

"They did tell us that themselves, after all." Alraumon added, which earned a very unimpressed stare from the imposing Kinkakumon.

"That's another thing that's been dwelling on my mind..." she raised the heavy spiked bat again to aim it right in Mina's face, getting the girl to squeak and jump back. "How is it we can be so sure you are who you say you are!? None of us actually saw this supposed grand battle, yet we did see you fraternizing with the enemy! That screams suspicious to me!"

"U-Uhh, Kinkakumon-san, it's really not-"

"Silence!" she quickly shushed Izuku from explaining himself, narrowing her eyes at him. "You're the most suspicious one of them all! You really expect me to believe someone as scrawny as you could take down Boss Gray!?"

As Izuku stammered to try and defend himself, Camie just pouted up at the oni. "Geez, like, bad attitude much? The bad guy's gone, everyone's safe; why you gotta drag the mood down?"

"It's as they say, Kinkakumon." a familiar voice approached, as the blue wolf stood by, "You have my word, everything happened as we said. The Chosen came to us in our hour of need, and created a miracle. This is a time for celebration."

Kinkakumon didn't seem at all convinced, shooting another glare at Izuku to make him jolt. With a click of her tongue, she just turned and left to go patrol the area.

Pidmon quietly sighed, before bowing respectfully at the Chosen. "I apologize on her behalf. Please forgive Kinkakumon; the safety of Header Town is her utmost priority, and the siege had left us all shaken. She means well, but she can take her devotion to the safety of the townspeople a bit far."

"I-It's OK, you don't have to apologize or anything." Izuku assured her with a nervous chuckle. "It's a pretty wild story to believe..."

"I'll say! Watching you zip around like that and smacking a giant dragon twenty times your size like it was nothing!" Mina said, "I saw it, and I hardly believe it!"

"Like an angry wasp..." Yui cryptically added.

"How on Earth did you even do such a thing?" Saiko asked, "Even putting aside that our Quirks are being suppressed somehow, to able to battle a thing like that... why, you'd probably have to have the same strength as All Might!"

Izuku flinched at this, chuckling a bit nervously. "W-W-Well, that's... S-See, it wasn't just my Quirk! I felt like... like there was another power inside of me, making me stronger than I normally would be." which wasn't a lie, he did feel something else; had he just used One For All at 100% like that without any help, he likely would've ended up with a lot worse injuries than he currently had. "I think that light made my Quirk a lot stronger, a-and even protected me against it."

Saiko placed her hand on her chin as she hummed in thought. "Is it possible the same power that affects the Digimon can also affect us then..."

"You're saying Midori-kun Digivolved?" Mina chuckled lightly.

"Oooh~! That means we saw the birth of Super Izu-kun!" Camie giggled, much to Izuku's embarrassment.

"So... does that mean all of us can get a power boost like that?" asked Kyouka. "That could come in handy in the future."

"It is possible." Saiko nodded, before she picked up her Digivice to inspect it. "These things only raise more questions the more they reveal their secrets..."

"Speaking of questions..." Izuka turned to Gaogamon and Pidmon, "When can we see Babamon? We've been hoping all this time she could answer at least some of our questions."

"Ah, yes, my apologies, I nearly forgot." Pidmon nodded. "Babamon has agreed to a meeting, Chosen Ones. I will lead you there whenever you are ready."

"Well, no time like the present, I suppose?" Izuku suggested, which the others agreed. And so, as the celebrations continued, the Chosen were lead towards the main temple where Babamon awaited...

The stone temple stood, seemingly unchanged for centuries. Unlike the rest of the town, it had no modern lighting, its dark hallways being lit by torches instead. The Chosen were lead down the main hallway, giving them some time to admire the beautiful handcrafted incisions on the stone, depicting strange hieroglyphs  they couldn't understand. Occasionally there were some images of monsters, Digimon most likely, but the real wealth of the temple's wall art wouldn't become clear until they had reached the main room.

Crossing through a pair of old drapes, the Chosen found themselves in a large room, mostly empty beyond some fanciful pottery. In the center of the room was a small platform, flanked by two large fires that lit up the room, and made visible the amount of artwork etched along the walls. The immediately apparent image was that of the massive carving of a Digivice located at the back of the room, just above the platform, surrounded by nine unique symbols: a sun, a flower, a teardrop, a cross, a taijitu enclosed within an eye, a rose, a heart, what seemed to be a pair of spectacles, and another sun with a ray of light beam down from it; above all of them was a large ring-shape that seemed to shine a light down on the Digivice.

Elsewhere on the walls were depictions of what had to be nine humans standing alongside nine monsters, and more images that seemed to depict these humans using their Digivices to cause their monster partners to transform. Across the room from these depictions were larger, more menacing wall carvings, showing dark monsters seemingly terrorizing Digimon, as two opposing beams emerged from the sky and the ground, colliding in the center where another depiction of a Digivice was.

Just then, another figure stepped into the room from a separate doorway, slowly walking over to sit at the bottom of the platform, letting out a tired sigh. The woman was very short, as short as Jijimon, with pale purple skin and pointy ears, gray hair tied in a bun as the bangs fell over her eyes; her mouth seemed to be stitched together, but it didn't interfere with being able to open it, and she carried a strange broom that resembled a staff to help her walk.

"Chosen Ones... at last, we have the opportunity to speak." the woman said. "I must apologize for not arranging this meeting sooner. I'm afraid this old body of mine needs more rest than it once used to."

"You must be Babamon. We're just thankful you agreed to help us." said Itsuka as the Chosen and the Digimon approached. There were pillows laid out on the floor already for them, and as Babamon motioned towards them, they took their seats.

"I will answer your questions to the best of my abilities, young ones, but sadly I cannot claim to know all." said Babamon. "What is it you wish to ask of me?"

The Chosen glanced amongst one another, as if silently debating with each other about what question they should ask first, but it didn't take long to reach to a conclusion.

"Well... the first question on our minds is... where are we?" Izuku asked. "I mean, we know where we are, but nothing here seems to make any sense."

"We've got random appliances in the middle of the forest..." said Kyouka.

"Tech that's way out of date..." Camie added.

"Not to mention the Digimon..." Itsuka said as she looked over worriedly at Dracomon.

Izuku wasn't quite sure if he wanted to know the answer to his next question, but he knew he had to ask. "Are we in another world...?"

Babamon's answer was, unfortunately, quite simple. "That is correct. You, as the Chosen, have been taken from your world and brought to ours."

A heavy weight fell on the humans. Deep down it had been a possibility they'd considered, but actually hear it said out loud like that...

"Th-...That's impossible!" Saiko quickly argued. "Do you really expect us to believe that? I mean... what, were we abducted by a flying saucer or something? That's preposterous!"

"No, not quite that." Babamon gently responded. "The more correct term would be... you were spirited away." this silenced Saiko as her expression showed her growing concern. "The world of Digimon and the world of humans have been intertwined since ancient times. Rarely do they connect with one another, except in times of great need."

"...th-then... it's more like an alternate dimension?" Mina wondered. "Like a sci-fi movie?" she looked over at Saiko, as if waiting for confirmation.

"W-Well... scientists have theorized for decades that alternate universes could exist..." Saiko mumbled, her uncertainty only getting more apparent.

"But, why? Why were we brought here- Why us, specifically!" Itsuka questioned, noticeably growing a little more fearful.

"That I cannot say, sadly." Babamon shook her head. "You were chosen by the great Yggdrasil. It is it that decides those brought here, and its reasoning is beyond the scope of one such as I. As for the why... that may be for you to decide."

None of them seemed very pleased with that answer, Kyouka quickly asking: "What do you mean by that? I mean, no offense, but we're not really in the mood for mystery answers right now."

"I understand, but I'm afraid mysteries are all I can offer to you." Babamon told them. "There is a darkness brewing in this world. Since ancient times, when the forces of evil grow in strength, that is when the Chosen are summoned. But the reason why changes depending on the stories, and the legends passed down through the generations. There are those who believe the Chosen are summoned to combat the evil that plagues the world, and bring about balance in all things... but there are those still who say that the Chosen are summoned by that evil, to lead it into a new era where darkness reigns."

"Then... what Boss Gray said about us... he was telling the truth...?" Izuku mumbled, thinking back to the Digimon's certainty that they would bring about the destruction of the world.

"The truth, one way or the other, lies only within yourselves." Babamon told him. "It is beyond my capabilities to see into the future, and what fate awaits all of you."

"Well, I know Mina-chan would never do anything evil!" Alraumon said with confidence.

"Yeah! Yui's not an evil butt; she kick's evil's butt!" Candmon energetically stood up for his partner.

"Mm..." was all Yui said, looking more contemplative than anything.

"Itsuka is the nicest person Dracomon ever met! She'd never do any mean! Right, Itsu-" Dracomon blinked, seeing the conflicted look on the girl's face. "Itsuka...?"

Of course Itsuka wanted to agree with the Digimon. She knew full well there was no way she could become a villain by her own volition... but every time she thought about that, her mind turned back to the black lion that rampaged through the village. "If the light can empower us, then..." she muttered quietly, wondering just what effect Dark Energy could have on them.

"Well, like, the only fate I really want right now is to go home!" Camie stated. "So, I dunno about you, but I'm happy just sidestepping this whole business! We already beat the Chroma guys, so that takes cares of us kicking evil's butt; if we just bounce back to our world, we won't be sticking around long enough to find out if we turn into the baddies or not!"

Kyouka frowned slightly. "That's nice and all, but how do we know if we even can go home?"

"D-Don't say that!" Mina whined, growing more fearful by the minute. "I don't want to be stuck here forever!"

"Well, if we got here, then surely there's a way back, right?" Camie wondered. "That's what I figure anyway." she looked over at Babamon for confirmation.

The old Digimon quietly hummed. "There are stories of doorways between the worlds..."

"See? What did I tell ya~!"

"It is said that in ancient times, these doorways were plentiful, allowing Digimon and humans to meet one another with ease... but that changed when the Great Lords took over our world."

Izuku blinked. "The Great Lords...?"

"It is a very old tale... one that I myself lived through, back when I was still but an infant." Babamon said. " The Nine Great Lords of Darkness... They too were like you; nine humans brought to our world by the will of Yggdrasil. But it is said that the powers of darkness were too tempting even for the heroes of legend. They became corrupted by the essence of evil, and soon took over the world for many, many centuries. In order to prevent others from coming and challenging their rule, the Great Lords destroyed all of the doorways between worlds that they could find, so that their power was absolute."

"Then, what happened to them?"

"They failed. Nine more were chosen, and brought here to fight them. The great war ended with the defeat of the Great Lords, and balance was restored to the world. At least, that is what the stories say, but I am inclined to believe them, for I met the Chosen before you. Though I may be old, and my memory foggy, this much I remember."

"So, if there were Chosen before us..." Izuku mused.

"And they're not around anymore, then...!" Mina hopefully said.

"It's possible they went back to our world!" Camie concluded with a clap of her hands.

"Or died here..." Yui quickly deflated the optimism in the room with her brutal honesty.

"B-...But even still, there could still be a doorway!" Izuku tried to keep thinking positively. "The Chosen before us got here somehow, and we got here too, so we have that to cling to!"

Mina quickly nodded her head. "Y-Yeah, what Midori-kun said! We just gotta think positive! No naysayers allowed! You hear that?" she aimed that last comment at Yui specifically, who only gave a short hum in response.

"I guess the question now is, where do we even start looking." Kyouka said. "We can't exactly just go off on a gut feeling, can we? We'd been running in circles."

"That, I may be able to assist you with." Babamon spoke up. "You must head to System Continent, across the ocean to the northeast. I've heard tales from travelers of a Digimon there who knows the secret to the cross between worlds."

Saiko frowned. "Is that really the best we've got? Some drifter's hearsay and rumors?"

"Drifters carry much of the world on their travels." Babamon said. "Never underestimate the stories they bring along with them. It is said that this Digimon lives above a pond, deep within a hidden forest; you should travel southeast to reach it, once you arrive on System Continent."

"It's a start. That's all we can really ask for right now." Izuku said, trying to think positive.

"It's better than nothing, I guess..." shrugged Kyouka.

Saiko huffed. "I still find this whole tale to be difficult to believe! I just want that on the record."

"But Intelli-san, wouldn't it answer a lot of things?" Bakomon wondered, "Like, how we've never heard of Japan before, or even seen other humans besides you?"

"Everything does seem to line up." Labramon agreed.

She flinched slightly. "Well... y-yes, but that doesn't mean it's the sole possible explanation!"

"I think the poor girl's in denial." Neemon sighed.

"You be quiet! You know about as much as we do!" Saiko bristled.

"So, that's it then?" asked Mina. "We just gotta find this Digimon, and head back home!"

"But now the question is, how do we travel across the ocean?" wondered Itsuka.

"Oh! That's easy~!" Camie quickly explained, "The Chroma Army, of course!"

"E-Eh?"

"Remember? Gaoga-san said they came here from across the ocean, so they must have a boat that brought them! We just ask 'em for a lift, and that solves that~"

Saiko frowned slightly in thought. "That... does make sense..."

"Nice thinking, Utsu-senpai!" Mina cheered, the other girl beaming with confidence at her brilliant idea.

"I am pleased you have found a solution, and wish you safe travels." Babamon told them.

"Actually, I have one more question..." Izuku spoke up. "Boss Gray... he said that, even if 'all nine' were together, we couldn't defeat him. And you said there were nine Great Lords, and nine Chosen who defeated them... and that mural behind you- really, all of these murals, they seem to depict nine humans... Does that mean there should be nine of us?"

Spadamon blinked. "Then... there should be two other Chosen Digimon somewhere out there as well?"

Babamon hummed in thought. "It is possible. The legends are not always clear, but many of them speak of the nine Chosen who have either saved or doomed this world. And the symbols you see behind me, though their meaning is unknown to me, are said to be connected to the nine Chosen, so it is possible you are correct.

"We've traveled pretty much everywhere on the islands, but we never came across any other humans..." Itsuka frowned"

"And the Digivices only show the seven of us." Kyouka pointed out, bringing up the screen that showed the seven red dots all clustered together. "I guess it is possible their Digimon hasn't transformed to turn their Digivices on..."

"We can't exactly dawdle around the island on the chance someone else might be here." Saiko quickly said. "Our best course of action is to travel to the continent as quickly as possible!"

Camie didn't seem particularly happy with the idea they might be leaving someone behind, but couldn't exactly find much of an argument. "I suppose we could always ask Gaoga-san to keep an eye out for us. At least with the Chroma Army gone, things should, like, be way safer for them here."

"Then it's settled." Saiko said. "We should depart tomorrow at the earliest. The faster we reach the continent, the faster we can figure out where we really are!"

"She's just gonna keep insisting on that, isn't she?" Neemon asked as he leaned over to Kyouka. She just frowned and sighed, not willing to get into an argument over this.

And partially because a side of her kinda wished Babamon would be wrong, and they were just a short trip away from home...

With their plan set in stone, it was only a matter of taking it easy now until they had to leave. Saiko and Bakomon had left with Kyouka, Itsuka and their Digimon to meet with the ex-Chroma Army remnant, who had elected to stay out of the celebrations for rather obvious reasons. There was a beach to the west where they had camped out, and that's where the others were headed. Camie, Mina and Yui had set out to get supplies, taking Labramon, Alraumon, Candmon and Spadamon with them. Naturally, the inhabitants of Header Town were more than happy to supply them with just about everything they could need for their journey to come.

And Izuku? Izuku had been left with very clear instructions to relax, and let his arms heal up.

Easier said than done, as Izuku just found himself feeling restless. He hated this aspect of him sometimes, the aspect that couldn't stand sitting around and do nothing while others worked. He didn't want to relax, he wanted to help. Even if logically he knew he had all the excuses in the world to not do any work, he still didn't want to be on the bench while the rest of the group was out there aiding their next step forward.

So despite being given the go-ahead to just lie down in a bed and sleep, Izuku instead wandered the streets of Header Town. He'd wandered so far away from the festivities just to get away from the horde of people wishing to thank him and gush over his achievements that the streets looked almost deserted. He was nearing the defensive walls of the town, admiring the architecture that looked so ancient, yet mingled with modern lightning like it was the most natural thing in the world.

He really wished he could write all of this down on his journal, but his fingers still felt like noodles.

As he wandered, he wasn't really expecting to see anyone in the deserted streets, but a figure soon came into view which he quickly recognized as the gruff Kinkakumon. She, in turn, noticed him as well, greeting him with a rough and unimpressed grunt and a scowl.

Izuku flinched at the cold reception, just smiling awkwardly and waving as best he could (which only made him look even more awkward).

"And just what are you doing here?" the woman gruffly asked.

"Uhm, well, I-I'm just enjoying the sights, really!" Izuku answered as if he had to explain why he was out after curfew. "This town's really something to admire. It's beautiful..."

"And I intend to keep it that way." Kinkakumon quickly said as she stepped closer, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "I've heard part of your group have left to meet with the Chroma Army...!" before he knew it, Izuku had a giant spiked bat aimed right at his face, "Why is that!? Are you planning your surprise attack next!? Is that it!?"

"W-What!?" Izuku jolted, waving his arms frantically. "N-No! Not that's not true! I-I mean, it's true that other other are going to talk with Mister Blue and the others, b-but it's only so we can leave the island on their boat! Th-That's it!"

Kinkakumon didn't drop her suspicious glare, scoffing at Izuku's explanation. "You're either lying, or you're a fool! You'd really trust those snakes to carry you anywhere to safety, and won't just abandon you on the closest island they can find?"

"I... well..." Izuku struggled a bit to answer, "We're not exactly swimming in options! We need all the help we can get, a-and they said they turned over a leaf and wouldn't be a problem to anyone anymore!"

This earned Izuku a blank, unimpressed stare before Kinkakumon just chuckled. "I heard from Gaogamon you lot were 'Hero students', correct? So tell me, does the word 'hero' mean 'gullible fool' in the human world? Because that's what I'm getting by speaking to you."

Izuku frowned slightly at her taunts. "L-Look, I get that you don't like the Chroma Army; you have every right not to, and I would never say you were wrong for not trusting them. But without their help we probably wouldn't have been able to defeat Boss Gray, and they've spent all this time preparing to leave the island and not bother you ever again. Boss Gray put those twisted ideas in their heads, and they said that as far as they're concerned we proved him wrong, so they have no reason to keep fighting. Maybe it is wishful thinking, but I want to believe them."

"People don't change their ways that quickly." grunted Kinkakumon.

"Not everyone. I know that. But some do." Izuku quickly retorted with a hopeful look in his eyes. "You just have to trust them, and give them a chance to prove they've changed."

"Or you trust them and you give them enough time to drive the knife into your back." Kinkakumon shot back, but this time, her voice carried noticeable frustration. In fact, her whole body language had gotten much stiffer, the topic clearly getting to her a lot more than she'd rather let on. "Don't take me for a fool; I know the full story of the Chosen Ones. You can bring about just as much destruction as a thousand Chroma Armies, if not more! I don't trust you any more than I trust them!"

Izuku noticed this, and quickly figured there was something more to this. Kinkakumon seemed to be taking this conversation a lot personally for it to simply be a general distrust over the Chroma Army, or them. Was there more here than just that? "Kinkakumon, I-"

"Quiet." the oni woman gruffly commanded, but not out of frustration or anything like that. No, Izuku could see it clearly in her body language, which had once again changed, this time to be more alert. She'd detected something, which quickly got him on alert.

Seconds passed... then minutes... but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

With a short huff, Kinkakumon let herself relax again, so Izuku did the same. "Must've been my imagination..."

"You have been on edge all day, it seems like." Izuku said. "Maybe it's just-"

His voice died in his throat as he saw the dark shadow descend on Kinkakumon. She realized it too, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the knife aimed at her back, only being able to twist her body to it pierced her shoulder instead. Without so much as a cry of pain, Kinkakumon swung an arm back to try and swat away the figure, but it had already jumped backwards while pulling the knife out of the oni's body.

Izuku's body glowed with One For All's might, and he wasted no time jumping past Kinkakumon as the figure lunged at her a second time, but the figure blocked Izuku's kick with ease. Still, the figure was forced to jumped back a second time, or so Izuku thought-

"Look out!" shouted Kinkakumon as she grabbed Izuku by his clothes, and yanked him back as the second figure nearly drove its knife right into his skull as it dove down from atop the wall. "Kibakusou!" she yelled out as she swung the spiked bat she carried over her head, slamming it so hard into the ground the cobblestone shattered and forced the figures to jump a fair distance away from their targets. Unfortunately, Kinkakumon felt the price for that, as she quickly had to hold the bloody wound on her shoulder as it throbbed in pain. "Wh-...Who the hell are you...!?"

"The Gunmetal Trio!" Izuku quickly recognized the cyborg dragons now that he had gotten the time to look at them.

"Correct. I am Gunmetal-1!"

"And I am Gunmetal-2!" said the Sealsdramon.

"What the hell's a Gunmetal Trio!?" Kinkakumon grunted.

"They're Boss Gray's bodyguards, who-" Izuku explained, but this got Kinkakumon's eyes to widen.

"They're Chroma Army!? I knew it!" she growled as she wielded her club despite the pain. "I knew those snakes were planning something!"

"W-Wait, Kinkakumon, you've got it all wrong!" Izuku tried to explain. "They were just mercenaries! They're not-"

"I knew we should've wiped them out when we had the chance!" Kinkakumon continued to rant, "But you stopped us! You and your worthless trust!" she growled at Izuku, but then turned her focus on the Sealsdramon. "Whatever your plan is, it stops here! I'll bring you down for good!" she roared as she charged towards the Sealsdramon, ignoring Izuku's call for her to wait. She swung her club horizontally, but both dragons easily avoided it. One of them lunged at her with her knife, but Kinkakumon blocked the attack with her own weapon; this left her open for Gunmetal-1 to try and attack her from behind, but Izuku quickly intercepted him and while he couldn't get a solid hit in, it was enough of a distraction to allow Kinkakumon to spin around and nearly take Gunmetal-1's head off with a swing of her club. The cyborg dragon managed to duck under it (Izuku as well had to hurriedly duck beneath the attack), and Kinkakumon gave the Gunmetal leader chase.

Izuku was prepared to chase after them, but Gunmetal-2 cut him off, slashing her knife to keep Izuku on his toes. He weaved from side to side to avoid each slash, already trying to think about how to get out of this situation. He poured as much energy as he could into his legs, launching himself far away from Gunmetal-2's reach; he had to find Spadamon and the others, or else he'd have no chance against the Sealsdramon.

Unfortunately a shadow jumped overhead, and Gunmetal-2 easily caught up with Izuku and cut him off once again. She swung her tail which Izuku leapt over, then slashed with her knife, Izuku just managing to force his body to twist and narrowly avoid it. When he landed he already needed to quickly step back to avoid another flurry of knife attacks, before Izuku got enough of a break that he could jump up high. He leapt atop one of the stone houses, quickly followed by Gunmetal-2 who wouldn't let him run too far away. She stabbed her knife and Izuku managed to avoid it. The dragon quickly spun her whole body around for a quick kick, but Izuku ducked underneath and aimed his own towards her stomach. It connected, but it did little to slow down the Digimon, who used the opportunity to swing her tail and wrap it around Izuku's neck, yanking him off the roof and tossing him aside.

Izuku flew across the roof of the house, and didn't land until he was on the opposing house's roof, pain shooting through his arms from the rough landing and subsequent rolling he did. He did his very best to ignore it, rolling to the side to avoid Gunmetal-2 lunging at him with a jumping stab, and get himself back onto both feet. He jumped at Gunmetal-2 this time as she pried her knife off the wooden roof, getting a clean kick right to the side of her head. But he knew right away he wasn't outputting nearly enough power, back to his weakened state, so the kick had little effect on the cyborg as she instead grabbed a hold of his outstretched leg, and slammed him down onto the roof, flat on his back.

Pure adrenaline allowed Izuku to roll himself back and avoid a stab from the tip of Gunmetal-2's tail, the dragon quickly closing in the distance between them and swinging her knife. Izuku ducked beneath two swings and jumped back, then jumped again immediately after he landed. He was getting further away from the direction he wanted to go in, but he had to avoid Gunmetal-2 at all costs.

Not too far behind, he could hear the roaring coming from Kinkakumon, and the thundering strikes of her club as it smashed the ground and walls it struck, as she swung it with all her might in repeated failed attempts to strike Gunmetal-1, smashing down whatever house she had to on a path of sheer destruction.

Izuku landed on the edge of a roof, Gunmetal-2 immediately behind him to try and stab him once more. Izuku jumped off the side of the house, but quickly stuck out his legs to bounce off its wall to the other side of the street. He knew Gunmetal-2 would follow suit, so he quickly jumped off the other wall of a house, and then do the same the next time he landed, zigzagging as quickly as he could as he jumped from house to house. Gunmetal-2 elected a much simpler method, and simply lifted herself back onto the rooftops to chased after Izuku as he bounced from side to side, traveling closer to the defensive wall surrounding the town.

Just before reaching it, Izuku suddenly turned his direction onto an alleyway, his feet touching the floor as he opted to run down the narrow street. Gunmetal-2 continued to follow him through the rooftops, having no issue keeping up with Izuku until she was close enough to dive down from the top of the house. Izuku threw himself forward to avoid being skewered, ducking into a roll and hitting against a dead end.

Gunmetal-2 let out a short victorious scuffle, brandishing her knife as she stalked her helpless prey, only for-

"Kibakusou!"

The walls to the nearby house came crashing down, Gunmetal-2 letting out a squawk as she was submerged in rubble, and ate a powerful strike from Kinkakumon's club in the process, knocking her out cold.

The oni let out a huff, looking over at Izuku on the ground. "What do you think you're doing just lying there!"

Izuku, for his part, just sighed in relief. "Th-There was no way I could've beaten them on my own, s-so I had to lure them to you somehow and catch them by surprise!"

Kinkakumon narrowed her eyes as she looked at the Sealsdramon beneath the pile of rocks beneath her, but before she could comment on it-

"BEHIND YOU!"

She had to quickly spin around and block Gunmetal-1's attempt at backstabbing her again, his knife meeting her club. With a fearsome push, Kinkakumon forced the Sealsdramon to jump back and give her some breathing room.

"Kinkakumon, we have to be careful!" said Izuku as he pulled himself back to his feet, "There's still one more of them-"

"Damned Chroma Army snakes...! This is where it ends for you! I'll throw you out of our island myself, if I have to!" Kinkakumon roared, completely ignoring Izuku's advice.

Gunmetal-1, for his part, remained calm despite being a man short. He just carefully watched over his enemies, before finally- "I knew I recognized you..." he said while looking at Kinkakumon. "Three months ago, was it? It took me a while; that was a long time ago... But you were the first one to meet with the Chroma Army, weren't you?"

This got Kinkakumon to flinch.

"That's right, now I remember." Gunmetal-1 nodded. "I seem to recall you greeting us with open arms back then; my, how your tune has changed since."

Izuku looked over at Kinkakumon, who bristled with anger, but seemingly towards herself rather than the dragon. Is that why she was acting the way she was earlier? Turning to the dragon, Izuku tried to make some sense of the current situation. "I thought you were just mercenaries! Why are you still attacking us? Boss Gray's gone, there's no one left to pay you!"

"It's true, we only worked for Chroma because of the pay day..." Gunmetal-1 agreed, "But we still have our pride. You took out our employer under our watch; that is unacceptable! Just imagine what would happen if word got out you did such a thing without any repercussion. Our rates would plummet! Nobody would want to hire us anymore!"

"So it's just about money in the end anyway..." Izuku said. "So where's your third member? Still hiding in wait?"

"Gunmetal-3 didn't see it that way; he felt we should just cut out losses and leave." Gunmetal-1 confessed. "We parted ways. Clearly we just sought different things in this partnership."

Izuku wasn't entirely sure if he should believe Gunmetal-1; it could very well just be a trick to get them to drop their guard. Looking over at Kinkakumon, he noticed the wound on her shoulder was only bleeding more profusely, and clearly causing her a lot of trouble despite her best attempts at masking it. "Kinkakumon, your bleeding's really bad-"

She clearly noticed him staring, which only further angered her. "I ain't got time to bleed! It's nothing! You just stand back!" she growled, "I'll take him down...! I'll take him out myself!" with a roar she charged forward, swinging her club which was easily avoided by the cyborg. She continued to swing her weapon wildly but with no more luck, as the dragon deftly sidestepped any attempts at battering him.

He waited for the right opening, and once he found it, Gunmetal-1 slashed with his knife to cut a small wound on Kinkakumon's leg. She flinched but didn't let that slow down her attacks, until again Gunmetal-1 managed to avoid it and open two more cuts on Kinkakumon's arm, soon followed by a fourth cut to her leg. He saw the blur approach him from the side, and ducked beneath Izuku's kick before quickly thrusting up his knife, managing a cut on Izuku's thigh. Gunmetal-1 then ducked under another attack from Kinkakumon, before stabbing at her side with the tip of his tail, while at the same time slashing open Izuku's chest when the boy tried for another kick.

Pushing past the sting, Izuku was quick to throw another roundhouse kick, at the same time that Kinkakumon tried to smash her forearm on Gunmetal-1's head, but the cyborg raised both arms and blocked both attacks without breaking a sweat. His tail wrapped around Kinkakumon's leg, tripping her to the floor as he spun around and struck Izuku in the chest with a potent kick that sent him against the wall behind him, then in a fluid motion, attempted to slash down on the oni, the attack being blocked by her quickly raising her club. She pushed against Gunmetal-1 as she got back to her feet and the dragon stabbed at her face with his tail, which she managed to avoid. Izuku again attempted to strike with another kick, but it was again blocked, Gunmetal-1 slashing at the boy with his knife and cleaving right through one of the splints on Izuku's right arm and cutting into his flesh. The dragon then quickly ducked under another attack by Kinkakumon, and struck her jaw with a powerful uppercut, just as his tail wrapped around Izuku's leg, and swung him like a flail against Kinkakumon's body. The oni grabbed Izuku as he made contact, but that opened them up to being hit by a powerful dropkick by Gunmetal-1, sending them both backwards and tumbling onto the ground.

Righting himself back up, Gunmetal-1 didn't even seem tired from the fight. "Hmph... This is taking too long. Tell you what..." he aimed a finger over to point at the boy, "All I want is to kill the Chosen. I couldn't care less about this worthless little village; the death of the heroes of legend is what would make the Gunmetal Duo the most sought after bodyguards in the world. There's no reason for you to die for their sake."

This got Kinkakumon to freeze, and for a moment, actually seem to consider the option, something that wasn't lost on Gunmetal-1.

"You said it yourself..." he continued, "The Chosen can only bring more destruction to this world. So just step aside, and let us take care of this problem for you. Free of charge. We'll all be doing the world a favor, when you think about it."

Izuku began fretting, even as Kinkakumon didn't offer a concrete answer. But he didn't have much time to think about it, as Gunmetal-1 immediately lunged at him, forcing Izuku to throw himself back to try and avoid the knife aimed at his throat. Izuku jumped into the home that Kinkakumon had burst out of earlier, kicking over a table and then kicking it at the Sealsdramon in an attempt to slow it down, only for Gunmetal-1's knife to cut through it like butter and not slow him down at all. Izuku still tried, hooking his foot on the leg of a chair to slide it between him and Gunmetal-1, before kicking it into the air to try and hit the dragon in the chin. The cyborg leaned back however, but was forced to raise his arms to defend himself when Izuku kicked the chair at his face, the wooden furniture breaking upon impact (Izuku really owed the owners of this house an apology, if he managed to survive).

This gave Izuku a slight bit of time for him to jump away from the dragon and out the window, back to the streets where he could try and join with the others again. But Gunmetal-1 quickly jumped out the other window and blocked his path, forcing Izuku to leap up and onto the roof of the house. Naturally the dragon followed him up there, catching up with Izuku in no time and nearly driving his knife into the boy's back, but Izuku managed to dodge the attack just in the nick of time. He tried kicking the cyborg dragon in the face, but it was blocked and it nearly cost him losing his foot, Izuku retracting his leg just as Gunmetal-1 slashed with his knife.

Izuku prepared to continue his escape, but Gunmetal-1 viciously slashed his knife several more times, forcing Izuku to focus on dodging instead of escaping, but with diminishing results as the knife managed to cut into his body several times. Desperate, Izuku tried to kick at Gunmetal-1's stomach but got block, only for him to kick again at the dragon's side and also get blocked, but so focused as the dragon on blocking Izuku's kicks that he failed to notice the boy curl the broken fingers on his right arm until he yelled out-

"Smash!"

And clocked Gunmetal-1 right in the chin with a powerful uppercut, throwing the dragon off his feet and onto the ground. That attack had repercussions, of course; the pain shooting up Izuku's arm was one he hadn't felt since the entrance exam into UA, but he just had to ignore it after he'd bought himself precious few seconds. He spun around on his heel and prepared to lunge, even as Gunmetal-1 was already standing up. Izuku could tell right away the dragon would catch up to him in no time, but if that wasn't bad enough, a figure emerged from the alleyway and jumped onto the roof right in front of him.

"K-Kinkakumon...!?"

The oni blocked his path, glaring a cold look towards him before, without warning, lunging forward and grabbing him by the throat. Izuku choked and flailed weakly in her grasp as she raised him in the air, holding him there.

This earned a quiet chuckle from Gunmetal-1, who'd relaxed from his running stance after seeing the oni get involved. "Glad you see things my way. Now, to put an end to this pesky brat."

As Gunmetal-1 approached, Kinkakumon simply held out the trapped Izuku at him. Her eyes met with Izuku's, those cold and fierce eyes... and then she smirked.

Lightning began traveling up her body, and she quickly let go of Izuku, freeing up her hand to begin gathering into a crackling ball of electricity. "Dokidokidokyuun!!" she unleashed the lightning ball which flew towards the Sealsdramon, who immediately raised his arms and blocked the full impact of the attack. He struggled against the lightning, but with a fierce cry, pushed upwards against it to send the blast flying into the air.

"Ghk-! You bitch...!" the dragon stumbled as he nearly lost his footing. "I'll kill you nex-"

He failed to notice Izuku had jumped straight towards him the moment after Kinkakumon had launched her attack, his fist reared behind him and crackling with such power that it tore open the bandages on his left arm, freeing his hand for-

"DETROIT SMASH!!"

He slammed a downward fist right onto Gunmetal-1's head, forcing the dragon off his feet and driving his head so hard onto the roof it burst a hole through it, sending the Sealsdramon down onto the floor of the house beneath him. Despite the furious impact, Gunmetal-1 was already pushing himself back to his feet, albeit with some difficult, before-

"KIBAKUSOU!!"

Kinkakumon came crashing down on him with such fierce might, the impact of her club resounded like a thunderclap, creating a massive crater that literally tore down not just the house, but at least five or six other houses that were caught in the collision radius.

The destruction took several minutes to finally settle, the dust and debris clearing to reveal Kinkakumon standing over the unconscious body of the Sealsdramon, and Izuku very awkwardly lying on top of a pile that was once somebody's home.

He owed a lot of people plenty of apologies now.

"I'm sorry..." but it was Kinkakumon who broke the silence with her own. "I had to catch him by surprise."

Izuku managed a still-nervous but relieved sigh. "I-I understand... it's OK, really!"

She lowered her head with a sigh, staring down at her fallen enemy. "...I let them in... I had the chance to do something about it, but I trusted them when they said they weren't here to harm anyone. I always thought nothing exciting happened here, that nobody would ever even think of attacking our islands... I was wrong, and everyone else payed for it."

"Kinkakumon, that's not-"

"I know what you're going to say. And maybe you're right, I don't know... but it doesn't change how I feel." she said. "It was my fault... I brought this to our doorstep, and because of that, I lost my trust... it was the only way I could think of to keep everyone safe..."

Izuku frowned slightly, but he couldn't blame her for feeling the way she did. Sometimes, even when everyone else tries to tell you differently, you can't help but feel responsible. "...even if you make a mistake, you shouldn't lose your kindness." he said, getting Kinkakumon to look back at him with some curiosity. "It's... just something I heard somewhere, when I was a kid... sympathizing with the weak, helping one another, becoming friend with those from other lands... you shouldn't want to lose those feelings. Even if they're betrayed hundreds of times."

Kinkakumon's eyes widened slightly, and she let out a short chuckle. "I think I get it... it doesn't sound easy, but I'll definitely try to regain those feelings, starting today."

"Does this mean you trust us after all?" he said, looking at her with a much more natural smile.

Kinkakumon quickly looked away from him (and did he see her face get a bit red?). "D-Don't get smart with me! I-I just trusted them even less, that's all!"

It was better than nothing...

Kyouka stepped through the curtain into the infirmary, the place they'd all agreed to meet up. "Hey, we're ba-"

She froze in place, seeing a large cocoon of bandaged with Izuku's eyes peeking out lying on the bed, surrounded by the others.

Itsuka stepped in after her, jolting at the sight. "M-Midoriya-san!? What happened?"

Dracomon blinked, then quickly laughed when she saw the Izu-cocoon. "Ha ha! Izuku looks like a big egg!"

"Your friend has a bad habit of getting himself hurt." cheerfully said Morphomon, "This felt like the best way to keep him safe from himself."

"Those Gunmetal creeps showed back up, and Izu-kun can't help himself with bein' a Hero, it seems~" giggled Camie.

"Mmmphmmph!" Izuku's muffled cries went unanswered by the doctor or the others.

"I can't believe I let this happen right under my nose..." lamented Spadamon, quietly brooding in the corner. "I'm a terrible partner...!"

"You shouldn't beat yourself over it, Spadamon." assured Labramon.

"Yeah, c'mon, keep your chin up!" Alraumon tried to cheer him up, "It could've happened to any one of us!"

"Oh dear. Is everyone alright?" asked Saiko.

Mina quickly nodded. "Yeah, we're alright. They never got to us, but Midori-kun was pretty banged up."

"Aw man, I wish I'd been there!" bemoaned Candmon. "I would've BAM! And WHAM! Knocked 'em right into next Thursday!"

"Mm-mmmph! Mmph! Mmph!"

"Uhh... what did he say?" asked Kyouka.

"Asked: what about the transport..." Yui answered.

"Mmph mphmmph!"

"Did they agree?"

"Oh! Yes, well, they agreed to help us, thankfully." Saiko answered, "Albeit, with a very slight catch..."

"They're heading to a couple of deserted islands and get a fresh start there, but they're opposite of where we should be heading." Bakomon continued.

"Plus they only have so much fuel to go around, and it wouldn't have been enough to reach System Continent anyway. But we found a solution: they'll take us halfway through the journey; after that, they'll lend us a boat so we can reach there ourselves."

"And even if that fails, we can use bubble boy here as an emergency flotation device!" Neemon said, patting the bandaged Izuku.

"Mmph!"

"Geez, we gotta get there by ourselves!? That stinks!" Mina pouted.

"It was the best we could come up with, I'm afraid." said Itsuka, knowing everyone's hands were pretty much tied on the fuel situation.

"We depart tomorrow at 0600 hours!" Saiko warned them. "So be up bright and early so as to not slow everyone down."

Mina's pout increased, almost feeling like Saiko was looking right at her when she said that. "Alright, alright, I get iiit!" she leaned on the Izuku cocoon. "Geez, might as well have just stayed in camp if I was going to have to wake up at the crack of dawn anyway..."

"Mmph mmph..." said Izuku, although whether that was an agreement or otherwise would remain a mystery.

Despite the early hours of the morning, the Chosen still had quite the crowd there to cheer them on for their departure (although some of them were just part of the rebuilding teams who were working on the destroyed houses, so they were already up anyway).

Everyone had brought the Chosen gifts and more supplies for them to take, along with many wishes and prayers of good luck. The attention was still a bit much for Izuku (now freed from his prison so he could more easily travel), but when Morphomon approached, he did his best to listen attentively to what she said.

"There is a doctor in Greenmouth City, and old friend of mine that some say is one of the best doctors around. I would feel much more at ease about your condition if he saw those arms of yours."

Izuku glanced at his heavily bandaged and splinted arms. Looking back at the small Digimon, he nodded. "I'll try to find them. I promise."

Morphomon nodded back, a more relieved smile on her face before she walked away.

"Safe travels, Chosen Ones!" Pidmon said with a short bow.

"May you find the path to your destinies, young ones..." said Babamon.

"Thank you." Izuku said with a short bow, the others doing the same before everyone started to leave. Once they had passed the city gates, however-

"HEY! GREEN GUY!"

Izuku stopped as he recognized the voice, seeing Kinkakumon carrying a wooden beam over her shoulder, having rushed over from the rebuilding sites. She stared him down with a firm glare for a moment, before speaking again.

"I put my trust in you. Don't make me regret it, y'hear?"

While the others were a bit confused, Izuku returned a confident smirk to her.

"We won't! That's a promise!"

Kinkakumon grinned back and waved them goodbye, Izuku trying to do the same despite his arms.

However, as they walked away, he couldn't help but feel the twisted eyes of both Mina and Camie staring at him.

"Hmmm... Midori-kun, that sure was curious..."

"I wonder if somethin' more happened yesterday that you haven't told us...~"

Izuku looked between the two, his face growing red and his brain stalling as he frantically tried to come up with the words to get the two devils off this train of thought, as the others just laughed at his misfortune.

This was going to be a long trip...

Chapter Text

"The past few days have been somewhat of a contradiction, simultaneously being rather uncomfortable, but at the same time the most relaxed everyone's been for a whole week."

"A small part of me was worried that the trip on the Chroma Army ship would be a harsh one, but some of those worries were lessened when we actually saw the ship itself: positively massive, resembling a small oil tanker, it certainly had plenty of room to fit a whole army in it. The unfortunate side of it is that it was also built with the expected level of comfort; that is to say, not much. The rooms are small, packing in as many bunk beds in each as possible, a dozen each; Spadamon and I share ours with a bunch of Commandramon, while the girls, naturally, have their own, so maybe they're more comfortable with the extra leg room? Regardless of the cramped conditions, it is nice to be able to stand under a working shower, I will admit. (I don't like it. Baths are much better.)"

"Speaking of Spadamon, I can't thank him enough for agreeing to take my dictation for these entries! (S'alright.) My arms don't hurt quite as much now, but I can barely move my fingers. Part of it is because Doctor Morphomon reinforced the bandaging around them so I wouldn't try anything drastic again, but she said I didn't do them any favors after the last few attacks. Hopefully this other doctor she told me about will be able to help, somehow. It might be a bit overly optimistic to expect someone with the same abilities as Recovery Girl, but one can hope."

"The days aboard the Chroma ship are calm, but a bit boring. (At least we're not getting attacked every other day.) There isn't much to do around here except wait. The Commandramon usually play poker to pass the time, but I've never been very good at it. They also really like trading scary stories, and they've been talking a lot about a mysterious dark spirit that has been skulking around the ship's cargo hold ever since we left Main Island. Some Commandramon swear they've seen it, but others seem to just be playing around with the story, so it's hard to separate what's fact or not. I mostly spend my time asking questions and learning more about the various Digimon on board and working on my notes, again, with help from Spadamon, who I'm extremely grateful for! (Seriously, don't mention it.) Mister Blue can be rather mysterious, but he's been pretty accommodating to all of my questions. (Except he won't answer what the deal is with all the rubber ducks...)"

"Intelli has surprisingly seemed to strike up somewhat of a... well, maybe friendship is too strong of a word, but some level of kinship with Mister Green and Mister Yellow. I see the three spending a lot of time together on the bridge, talking about topics and battle strategies that fly right over my head most of the time! (They can get kinda scary when talking about that kind of stuff...) Kendou, on the other hand, spends a lot of her time in the galley; Mister Red is a great cook who works hard to keep everyone fed, and Itsuka has been helping to pass the time."

"Kodai and Jirou found the cargo hold in the ship filled with boxes, and have spent a lot of time scouring through them to see if they find any interesting items. Surprisingly, Jirou managed to find a guitar of all thing among all the junk, and she draws in huge crowds whenever she starts playing it! It's become somewhat of a nightly tradition by this point, and everyone gathers on the deck just to listen to her play. Mister Brown often joins in, and he has a wonderful singing voice! Their talents really complement one another, and they help pass the time faster for everyone."

"Ashido and Utsushimi mainly seem to spend their days chatting away about... something, some kind of popular idol band, I think? The other day, Ashido was trying to teach Utsushimi some dance moves, although the swaying of the boat made that a bit hard; still, they seemed to be having fun. The two seem to have gotten pretty close really quick these last couple of weeks. Probably not a bad idea; we don't actually know how much longer it might take before we can actually reach home, and if we'll keep coming across hostile Digimon, then we'll have to work together just to survive. (I'll keep Izuku safe no matter the danger!) Thank you, Spadamon! Wait, did you write that down too? Why are you blushing?"

"Still, while we've all found ways to relax, I can't help but think about everything Babamon told us. Were more people brought here other than us seven? Other students? And what even brought us here to begin with? This Yggdrasil that Babamon spoke of, just what is it really? Why did it summon all of them here in the first place? And where is 'here'? Are they really in some parallel world, can they really find the doorway back home should we really be leaving if there's others out there and what about the dark energy and its effect on us what-"

"You're muttering too fast!"

"Ah-! S-Sorry!"

"Anyway, there's still a lot of questions and uncertainties. Far more of them than any answers. We can't say for sure what lies ahead of us..."

"All we can do is give it our best shot, I guess."

"Sorry we're late!"

Saiko looked up from her clipboard as she oversaw the various Commandramon running back and forth. "Ah, Midoriya-kun, good. Don't worry about it; we're just finishing loading up the last of the supplies."

On the fourth day of their journey, it was time they parted ways with the Chroma Army, and began heading towards System continent by themselves. According to Saiko and Mister Green, the journey wouldn't last longer than two days, and only a day and a half under the best scenario. And they certainly had a good chance of getting that best scenario: stored deep inside the Chroma ship were a handful of HSIC speedboats and jet skis, the former of which the Chroma Army had offered them to journey the last leg of their trip.

The boat itself was of a low-medium size, just big enough to accommodate the seven humans and their Digimon without much of a hassle. While the matter of who would pilot it was a concern at first, Saiko thankfully had some nautical experience, and she had spent the last few days learning the ins and outs of their new craft.

Confident they were in good hands, the Chosen watched as the Commandramon worked tirelessly to prepare their ship; a large segment of the ship's hull soon began to open, similar to the cargo door of a large plane, leading out into the ocean. The speedboat was then hitched to a metal chain along the ground, which began slowly dragging the boat towards the exit.

"All aboard!" shouted Neemon before chuckling. "Always wanted to say that."

The chosen all jumped onto the boat's lower deck, looking back at the other Digimon as they slowly moved.

"We really can't thank you enough." Itsuka said to them with a bow.

"Don't be ridiculous! This was the very least we could do!" Mister Green told her. "Bon voyage, Chosen Ones!"

"See ya." Blue said with a short salute.

They all waved and said their goodbyes just as the speedboat was lowered onto the salty waters of the ocean, and unhooked from the larger ship. Saiko climbed up onto the bridge deck and got behind the helm, ready to put all her studying to practice. She checked all the systems, turned on the engine and grabbed hold of the wheel. Soon enough the boat started moving, and they set sail towards their next destination.

"Right, close it up!" Mister Blue ordered, the cargo door being drawn back up soon after.

"Sir!" a Commandramon stepped up and saluted. "Permission to speak."

"Granted, but you really don't need to be quite so formal anymore." Mister Green told the dragon.

"Sir! During preparations I noticed something. I wasn't sure at first, so I checked all the equipment; I believe we're missing a jet ski, sir."

Mister Blue and Green looked at one another, slightly confused.

"A jet ski? I don't remember any order to use those."

"Boss Gray was hiding plenty from us; I wouldn't be surprised if he issued such an order without letting us know." Mister Green scoffed.

"Sir! I am confident we left the shore with twenty one jet skis. We are now down to just twenty, sir."

"Maybe one of the Commandramon took one out for a joy ride." shrugged Mister Blue, not finding much of a motive to be concerned.

Whatever the case may be, sighting of the spirit haunting the cargo hold had stopped since that day...

With a clear sky ahead of them, it seemed the journey ahead would be free of any storms, thankfully. The sea was calm and steady, allowing the speedboat safe passage as it headed east.

"I'm keeping her steady at 45 knots." called out Saiko from the helm. "At this rate, even factoring in hours we'll need spent sleeping, we should arrive at System Continent at around four in the afternoon tomorrow."

"Don't be afraid to push it harder! The faster we get there, the better, right?" Camie said from the lower deck.

"Faster! Faster! Hwah hah!" cheered Candmon nearby.

"We still have fuel to consider; this is as fast as I feel safe taking her if we don't want to paddle the last stretch of the way there."

"You seem really confident around boats, Intelli-san." Itsuka commented as she stood next to her.

"Well, duh!" Mina said, looking back as she sat on the edge of the upper deck, "I bet her family owns a big boat of their own!"

This got Saiko to flinch. "W-What's that supposed to mean!?"

Mina blinked at the reaction. "Well, I mean... you're probably really wealthy, right? And that's just what rich people do; they have yachts!"

This earned a small, barely audible groan from Saiko. "I would appreciate it if you didn't make any assumptions about myself, thank you very much!"

"So... you don't have a boat?"

"Th-That is besides the point!" she bristled.

"Saiko's getting all red!" chuckled Dracomon.

Izuku walked up from the cargo compartment with Spadamon. "The supplies are held safe; anyone want something?"

"Oh! Banana!" Mina quickly called up from above him.

"Same here!" Alraumon echoed.

"I'm good; I had a snack before we left." Camie said before she looked down at the dog lying next to her. "How about you, Labra-kun?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I could eat. Thank you, Izuku-san." the dog bowed his head.

On the other side of the boat, Kyouka plucked at the strings of her new guitar, offering a bit of background music as she pondered. "So, I guess I'll be the first one to ask... what do you guys think this System Continent is like?" the others looked at her without giving an answer. "I mean... there's only a finite number of continents in the world that we know, and 'System' isn't one of them. So, what are we expecting to find there, exactly?"

"We'll end up on one of those continents, obviously!" Saiko quickly huffed. "If you expect me to say I believe any of this nonsense about ending up in a parallel world, you can forget it!"

"I don't want to believe it either!" Mina said. "I just want to get back home already! I don't want to be stuck in some alien planet filled with killer monsters! N-No offense, Raurau-chan..."

"I'm not offended." the flower Digimon hummed, "Even On Island could be pretty dangerous sometimes... but isn't your world pretty dangerous too?"

"W-Well... yeah, it is, but..." Mina frowned, not really sure how to follow up from that.

"Predators, Villains; they're all the same in the end as they pray on those weaker than them." Neemon said with a very sage-like tone. "But I can relate to longing for the relative comfort and safety of your own home. I know I'd much rather be back at Dawn Village sleeping, instead of this 'Hero of Destiny' stuff."

"What Neemon said!" Mina repeated. "Even if our world's still dangerous, it's at least more comfortable! I miss having a real bed to sleep on! Or a home cooked meal! I miss-...I miss my parents..." she quietly said, curling up slightly into a ball.

The change in the atmosphere was pretty apparent, Itsuka frowning slightly as the mood dimmed. "It has been a while since we've gone missing..."

"Nineteen days..." Yui said, getting Kyouka to flinch.

"Th-that long!? It's almost September by this point..."

"You, like... think they're still looking for us?" Camie wondered, although through her tone, it sounded like something she didn't want to wonder.

"S-Surely they are!" Saiko spoke up. "You don't just give up on finding seven missing students! It has to be a major story, with millions of scrutinizing eyes on top of it! There must be Heroes working around the clock trying to locate us even as we speak! Sooner or later, they should find some clue that will lead them to the culprits! Perhaps they already have!"

"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself that more than anything..." commented Neemon, getting Saiko to flinch.

"I-It's entirely possible! Bakomon! Tell him it's possible!"

"Eh? U-Uhh... y-you're right, Intelli-san! It's entirely possible!" the box Digimon said, even if his heart was noticeably not into it. "But, the thing is... I don't know if you'll find what you're hoping when we get to System Continent..."

As Izuku handed the fruits to those who asked for them, he blinked and looked up at the Digimon. "What makes you say that, Bakomon?"

"Well... there's only going to be more Digimon in System Continent."

Saiko raised an eyebrow, looking down at him. "And why can you say that so confidently?"

"Because Neemon is from System Continent."

This got Saiko and the others to pause for a moment, quickly looking over at the other Digimon.

"..." Neemon feigned blushing, bringing his hands up to his cheeks. "Ooh, I feel so popular all of a sudden...!"

"I thought all of came from Dawn Village." said Izuku as he looked down at Spadamon.

"Well, that's kinda true, but not all of us." the lion explained. "Some of us were only brought there when we were still Digi-Eggs."

"Jijimon found me egg all alone, abandoned in the forest." Alraumon explained.

"Candmon was brought from Main Island by Digimon who knew they would grow up safely at Dawn Village." Labaramon continued. "Myself and Bakomon were born in the village, however."

"What about Spada-kun?" asked Camie, but the small lion only shrugged.

"No idea. I never really asked." he said. "I was still an egg and hatched in the village, so as far as I'm concerned, that's where I was born."

"Eehhh... That's a very mature way of thinking, Spada-kun~!" Camie giggled, getting the young lion to blush slightly.

...so we're just going to ignore the nonchalant way they say they were born from eggs? Saiko kept her thoughts to herself, just focusing on steering the ship.

"Hey, hey, I thought we were talkin' about me!" Neemon quickly spoke up.

"Well we just didn't want to force you to be in the spotlight, seeing as how you're so humble." Kyouka flatly stated.

"Oh please, it's no trouble! no trouble at all~!" Neemon oh so humbly assured them. "Yes, it's true, my story begins not in the lush green woods of On Island, but in the harsh plains of Bonefang Savannah. Ever since I hatched, I have been a restless soul, hearing the call of the unknown beckoning to me! I could be confined by the limits of my village, and so I built myself a raft with my own teeny tiny hands when I was yet but a babe, and set off down the river and into the ocean in search of undiscovered new lands!" he motioned grandiosely as he told his tale to his captive audience. "I braved storms and sea monsters, but alas, my story was nearly cut short as I ran out of supplies. Starving and dehydrated, I was left adrift in the middle of the great blue abyss, kept alive only by my dauntless manly spirit. Eventually I was picked up by a fishing boat off the coast of Main Island, taken to Jijimon, victory, victory, the rest is history, and now I'm stuck with this mean mug as my partner." he said while motioning at Kyouka, getting her eyes to twitch.

When he concluded his tale, he earned a few impressed claps from Camie, Mina and the other Digimon minus Spadamon.

"Dracomon loves hearing this story!"

"Neemon's the oldest among us, so we do look up to him as a sort of older brother." Bakomon said.

"That is, when he's not being lazy." Labramon added, the others chuckling.

"Hey, I'm the full package." Neemon shrugged his shoulders. "You take the sweet with the sour."

Camie giggled. "Well, I already thought Neemon was a cutie, but now I think he's a daring cutie!"

Neemon sighed dreamily. "Aaaah, Camie-chan, it warms my heart to hear you say so! You reawaken the adventurous flame in my soul! If I were you partner, I'd feel more motivated to protect you! What's the point of getting worked up when you're partnered with a gorilla after a-AYEGHHH!" he immediately collapsed on the ground after getting stabbed by Kyouka's jack plug. "Th-...That was...supposed to be a compliment...!" he meekly protested, but Kyouka just gave a short huff in response.

Spadamon sighed at the poor showing from his elder. "You really need to learn when to stop talking, 'big brother'."

The conversation continued, helping pass the time faster. Minutes turned to hours, and soon enough, the Sun had begun to sunk beneath the waves. With visibility lessening dramatically, Saiko elected to only sail for a short while longer; while they had a compass to help from getting themselves lost in the dark, she didn't want to risk the (admittedly small, but still real) possibility of sailing right onto a bunch of rocks or sand bank hidden in the darkness. So the boat came to a stop and the anchor was dropped, the Chosen lighting up a lamp to and pulling out some sleeping bags to shield themselves from the cold but gentle ocean breeze. The remainder of their time was spent conversing and eating their dinner from the rations they had brought with them, and shortly past ten at night, they tried their best to sleep to get as early of a rise as possible.

The silence of the ocean beyond the soft waves served a soft lullaby that may have helped in their eventual descent into slumber...

But so deep were they in their rest that they failed to notice the large black shape's approach. The galleon emerged from the misty darkness, its approach causing the Chosen's small vessel to sway. Many ropes were lowered off its side, and over a dozen small figures descended down from those ropes to board the smaller craft.

Stirred awake by the skittering of feet and hushed whispers, Spadamon slowly opened his eyes which quickly adjusted to the darkness... only for everything to immediately go dark again, as he was stuffed into a bag right away. His cries for help did little to help warn the others, as the other Digimon were shoved into the same bag, and even the humans were swiftly thrown inside their own bags. It was a fast and well-planned attack, the assailants soon tying up the bags to ensure none of their prisoners could escape, before hoisting them over their heads and carrying them away. The bags were then tossed onto a suspended platform, soon pulled up onto the galleon, with their kidnappers following behind as they climbed back up the ropes...

Needless to say, this was a stressful time.

Everything had happened so fast that Izuku didn't have time to react as quickly as he had wanted. He should have busted out of the ropes tied around him sooner, but when he felt the others get piled on top of him, he held back out of fear he might hurt them.

As soon as he felt them get taken off of him however, he was quick to rectify that mistake. One For All coursed through his body, giving him more than enough power to snap out of the ordinary ropes, and tear his way out of the burlap sack he'd been stuffed into. He had less than a second to get a good reading of where they were, everyone else's positions, and the identity of their assailants. He wasted no time in kicking aside the two figures that were in front of him, then jump forward to do the same to a pair that were carrying away a bag that held Itsuka, and immediately jump towards another two that carried Camie in a bag. Spinning his body in a wide circle with his leg outstretched, Izuku made sure to have either kicked aside several of their attackers, or at least forced them to give them a wide berth to prevent the same fate.

Illuminated by lamplight, Izuku could get a good look at their attackers: two dozen of them in total it seemed, and though they were small, they looked quite fierce, with pointed years and large eyes; their skin was green, and their large faces bore wide grins, two sharp canine teeth extending upwards past their lips; they wore simple leather clothes and carried a number of different weapons in their hands, like swords and sickles. If Izuku didn't know any better he'd call them goblins, because that's exactly what they looked like.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Goblimon

Level III

Type: Oni

Attribute: Wrathful

An impish Digimon that is very cunning and intelligent, but not very powerful. To carry out its schemes it always attacks in packs; the larger the pack, the more daring their gambits become. When it gets into a fight, it hurls fireballs with tremendous speed: Goburi Bomb!

---

"Drat! He got away!"

"Don't let him free the others!"

"Look at his arms! He ain't so tough!"

"C'mon, there's only one of 'em!"

"Dogpile 'im!"

The goblins all shouted as they charged Izuku, looking to pounce on top of him and hold him down. But while his arms were injured, Izuku could still use his legs, and he swiftly kicked at each approaching Goblimon with such speed that none of them managed to touch him, being thrown back with force, some even colliding against other Goblimon to help thin the number of opponents.

"H-He's strong!"

"And fast! It's hopeless!"

"I-I knew this was a bad idea!"

Well... they lost they nerve rather quickly. Izuku wasn't about to complain though, because that meant he had time to free the others. Wounded hands or not, he had to-

"Metal Shot!"

Izuku barely had time to react, throwing his head to the side to just narrowly dodge the solid metal ball that had been fired in his direction. He could tell by the voice alone that hadn't been one of the goblins, and when he turned to face the shooter, he immediately felt he had reasons to worry.

The man was, in all descriptions, the very picture of what a pirate should look like. Clad in dark blue clothes, with an eye patch and a large captain's hat proudly display the skull and crossbones logo, the Digimon was a rather imposing sight, helped by the fact his right hand had been replaced with a massive hook, and his left arm was either an oversized musket, or just straight up a cannon.

"Avast, matey, lest ye be meetin' yer maker sooner than ye hoped." the Digimon threatened with a raspy chuckle.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Hookmon

Level IV

Type: Mutation

Attribute: Wrathful

A fearless and rugged Digimon of the ocean. It faces even the stormiest of weathers with a defiant laughter, and demands its crew to sail headfirst into certain-death situations just to spit in the face of overwhelming odds. Its treasured Captain Cannon on its left arm can fire different types of ammunition, depending on whether it wants to capture a prey alive or dead.

---

"As fer ye, ye lousy mackerels-!" he turned and kicked on of his Goblimon crew. "Ye were ready to hightail from one measly little land maggot!? Ye disgrace the good fearsome name of the Cerulean Permanence!"

"W-We're sorry, Cap'n!"

"He just looks really strong!"

"Humans are scary!"

"Yarr! That's makes them such fine worthy prey!" Hookmon shouted back. "Grow a spine 'fore I remove the jelly that replaces it from yer back with me hook!" he threatened, the Goblimon all cowering as they profusely apologized. The captain would then look back towards Izuku. "Now... as fer ye-" but when he looked, Izuku wasn't there anymore. Hookmon quickly raised his cannon arm, blocking an axe kick attempt from Izuku with great ease. "HARR HAHH! Feisty!" he threw Izuku aside like he were nothing, pushing against his leg. "I respect that in a man, even a land-maggot such as yerself!"

Izuku slide to a halt on the ship's deck, shooting a glare at Hookmon. "Who are you, and what do you want with us!?"

"...who am I...?" the captain blinked, looking utterly baffled that Izuku even asked that question. "Ye mean to tell me ye sail my waters, and ye don't even know me name!? Me!? The most feared captain this side of the ocean!?" he furiously asked... before- "Heh... Ha-HAHH!"

"HARRHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!" he laughed, with his Goblimon crew quickly joining him.

"Aye, aye, I knew I liked the looks of ye!" he continued. "Very well, I'll just tell ye! I be the captain of this here ship! The shadowy scourge of the Net Ocean! The dread specter that strikes in the dead of night! The legendary Cerulean Permanence! My name is Hookmon, land-maggot! Ye better remember that from now on, so I don't have to beat it into yer little brain." he chuckled again. "We'd been trailing yer dingy fer hours; ye land-maggots didn't even suspect a thing! Like a flatfish with a fat bottom, ye were blind to what happened in yer rear! Ha-HAHH!"

"HARRHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!" the Goblimon laughed.

Izuku internally cursed himself, even though he knew there wasn't that much he could've done. They were still riding high from their victory against the Chroma Army, so they let their guard down and didn't think about the possibility of being attacked. Then again, how could they have even been expected to suspect a real pirate attack in this day and age!?

"As for what I plan to do with ye..." Hookmon continued, "Humans be a rare sight in these parts. There always be those with plenty of money interested in collecting such specimens, some for display, some for work, others for a delectable exotic meal... It ain't up to me to decide; I merely deliver the merchandise!"

This quickly sent a chill of disgust up Izuku's body as the Digimon all but gloated about how he was going to sell them. "I won't let you do this!"

Hookmon only scoffed. "Oh, yer more than welcome to try and stop me! But..." the captain then raised his cannon, but rather than aim it at Izuku, he instead aimed it at the bags still lying on the platform, hovering precariously over the ocean by a simple pulley, "Have ye enough trust in yer speed that you kin save yer mates in time, land-maggot? I am quite the gambler in my spare time; I kin humor ye with a little wager like this~"

Izuku flinched, his mind racing a mile a minute as it looked between Hookmon and the squirming bags that held the others.

"One..." counted the captain.

If he jumped Hookmon first, he could maybe redirect the shot, but he had to make sure he could move the Digimon enough that the shot didn't get anywhere near the others, he knew full well how strong a Digimon could be so did he really have that much power-

"Two..."

He could also just throw himself between Hookmon and the others, try to deflect the shot with a well-placed kick if he had to, but while he knew his speed, he wasn't sure if he was at the right amount of distance that he could just-

"Three! Metal Sho-"

"WAIT!" Izuku shouted, lowering his head in defeat. No matter how he thought things through, there was just no way he was fast enough. "I... I surrender..."

Hookmon let out a chuckle. "Smart lad. Shake them down for any valuables, and throw them in the brig!"

As soon as he gave the order, the Goblimon jumped Izuku, punching and kicking him down to the floor, stepping on his broken arms for payback from his earlier attack. When they stopped they grabbed hold of him, patting him down to see what he might be carrying, a Goblimon soon taking his Digivice to stare it curiously.

"Captain! This is all he had on 'im!"

"Psh! Lousy brat! Don't even got no money on-"

"QUIET!" Hookmon shouted as he punched aside the Goblimon to get closer to the one holding the Digivice, "Let me see that!" he leaned in closer to get a good look at it, his eye widening. "I-...Impossible...! A Digivice...! I've been waiting all me life for this...!!" he then quickly straightened back, barking out orders: "Grab all of these that ye find off of them, and carry them to me cabin! Lose a single one and yer head'll be rolling into a watery grave!"

"AYE, CAPTAIN!" the Goblimon shouted in unison, quickly scurrying to grab the other Digivices before carrying them into the lower decks of the ship.

Hookmon then walked closer to the edge of the ship as the last few Goblimon climbed back aboard. "Cap'n, we searched the vessel! There's nothing else there but some rations."

"Hmm... in that case, this ain't got no use to us." he placed his foot on the paling, aiming down his cannon. "Metal Shot!"

The last thing Izuku heard before being carried into the bowels of the ship was of multiple cannon fire, and an explosion that took out their best way out of this predicament...

They didn't know how long it had been. It could've been hours, but it felt like days where they were forced to sit in the windowless brig of the warship.

Kyouka sat by the bars, her jack plugged into the ground as she listened in to the footsteps of the Goblimon patrolling the deck. Whenever she heard the footsteps walk away- "Now."

Mina jumped at the call, placing her hands on the bar and lathering them with her acid. "I-It's no use! My Quirk's still too weak!"

"Please do your best, Ashido-san. We don't need you to melt through the bars, only weaken them." Itsuka said. "If I can at least bend the bars, we'll be one step closer to breaking out of this."

While she didn't seem fully convinced, Mina still nodded and kept trying her best to weaken the metal bars holding them in.

"Stupid... I can't believe I was so stupid...!" Saiko sat in the cell, wallowing in her own self-pity. "How utterly foolish of me to think we could actually let our guard down! Oh, what a terrible sin, to believe that in the middle of the bloody ocean we could actually get a good night's sleep! Surely this is punishment from God for our hubris! The hubris of not expecting a bloody pirate ship to show up in the middle of the night!"

"...is she being sarcastic?" asked Alraumon, "I'm honestly having trouble telling..."

"I think she's just finally lost her marbles." Neemon sighed. "Not that there were that many to begin with, but-"

"I am in full grasp of my many marbles, thank you very much!" hissed Saiko. "I'm just starting to wonder what I could possibly have done in a past life to deserve this rotten luck!"

"Some things you just can't prepare for; you should blame yourself, Intelli-san." Bakomon assured her, but she just huffed at him.

"It's my fault. I should've done more to try and stand up to Hookmon." lamented Izuku.

"You stop that!" Camie pouted. "You did the best you could, especially with no arms! So you listen to Bako-kun's advice, and don't blame yourself, dude!"

Izuku shrunk slightly with a quiet mumble of an apology. He then focused on the white lion. "Spadamon, if you're getting tired that's fine. You can put me down!"

"T-Tired? Who's tired!" the lion put on a brave face, despite his arms and legs trembling as he held up Izuku, who was hanging upside down from his ankles against the wall. "B-But, OK, o-only because you want me to! B-Because I could do this for way longer! I-If I wanted to!" he carefully moved out from under Izuku, setting him down against the wall.

"Why did they have to leave him like that anyway!" Camie protested. "That's, like so way past mean!"

"It could be worse..." Izuku muttered, but even he wasn't sure if that made him feel any better about the situation.

"Of course it's 'mean'; they're pirates!" Saiko huffed. "What else would you expect?"

"Well, I dunno! Pirates in manga are way more jolly and, like, honorable! Right? Izu-kun's injured, they should at least bring a doctor over to check on him!"

Saiko just sighed at that answer. "I can't believe I have to say this, but you really mustn't use such fantasies as a benchmark of what to expect from real life. In the real world, beyond the realm of fiction, the world is a colder and far less whimsical place!" she then looked over at the others, "Now, Ashido-kun, is your body acid having any effect on those bars?"

Mina frowned slightly as she inspected the bars. "I think so... just not a whole lot. It makes me feel so weak, normally I'd be able to melt through this in seconds..."

"Let me try anyway. If it doesn't work, we'll just give it more time." Itsuka calmly assured her before she stood before the bars and grew her hands to twice their size. She gripped the warm metal bars, the muscles in her arms and upper torso straining as she applied force. The metal groaned and bent, opening up a small hole in the bars.

"It worked!"

"Way to go, Itsuka-chan!"

She let out a relieved breath, seeing the result of her work. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it any bigger; I don't think this is ordinary metal, or maybe I'm just that weak right now..."

"It should suffice. Those goblins took the key with them, so we need to retrieve our Digivices. If even just one of our Digimon transforms, they'll be able to break us out of here. but..." Saiko examined the opening made, "Only our Digimon would be able to squeeze through here, and even then, not all of them..."

"Looks too small for me." Alraumon said, placing her heads on her head to show it was much too big to squeeze through.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to fit through either." Bakomon said.

Spadamon hummed and looked down at himself. "If I took off my armor, I think I could squeeze through, but..." he frowned, "That'd mean leaving Izuku alone..."

"It's not like he's going anywhere." Neemon added.

"Right... but..." Spadamon still looked uncomfortable with the idea, after what happened the last time he left the boy alone. "Alright, I'll go."

"You shouldn't go by yourself, though." Itsuka commented.

"Oh!" Dracomon said, "How about Neemon?"

"Hah! Yeah, good one!" Neemon chuckled. "Just imagine, me! Heading off into a ship full of cutthroat pirates! Hahahah!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...why's nobody else laughing?" Neemon sweated as he felt all eyes on him.

"Skinny..." Yui pointed out as she prodded Neemon's side.

He flinched a bit, quickly growing nervous. "H-Hey, OK, I've been watching my figure, I know that, b-but you're not serious, are you? You want me to go out there!?"

"Why not?" Kyouka shrugged. "Let's see some of that adventurous flame in soul in action for once."

"NO! NEIN! NON! I REFUSE!" Neemon quickly made his stance clear, crossing his arms in front of him with an X. "Mama Neemon didn't raise a fool! I'm not goin' out there to be turned into fish food! Get another patsy for your crazy scheme!"

An annoyed grunt left Spadamon. "Fine! I'll do it myself." he reached up and took off his head guard, followed by his gauntlets. "We're just wasting time arguing." he then pulled up his breastplate, squeezing out of it without much issue, leaving the small lion without his signature armor. He then turned to Izuku, looking up at him with a serious look in his eyes. "But.. promise me you'll stay out of trouble, OK!? If anything happens, let the others take care of it, and wait for me! I'll be back before you know it!"

As Izuku and the others stared at Spadamon's earnest expression, and the visible concern he had for his partner, they could still only think of one thing.

He's so cute! they silently agreed, seeing the white lion's large round eyes and fluffy head now fully uncovered.

"I-I promise, Spadamon!" Izuku managed to say. "I trust you."

Spadamon nodded decisively, before he turned and headed for the hole in the bars. Sure enough, once he managed to squeeze his head in, the rest of his body was fairly easy to get through, the lion now standing outside of the prison cell.

"The Digivices should be in the captain's cabin. Good luck!"

He nodded at Saiko, and when Kyouka made sure the coast was clear of any Goblimon, Spadamon dashed off for his mission.

"Poor Spadamon..." Camie said, "Having to go out there by himself..."

Inside the brig, Neemon just let out a huff... and very quickly started feeling the weight of all the disappointed stares he was getting from the other Digimon. "If you think I'm changin' my mind, you can forget it!" he stood his ground, crossing his arms with another huff.

"Not cool, dude." Kyouka flatly said, but Neemon remained undaunted in his stance.

Camie pouted slightly, but figured there was an easy solution to this. "Nee-kun...~" she leaned in, "Don't you think Spadamon would be way better off with the help of someone as cool and manly as you~? I know I'd feel way more safe knowing you were looking out for me... so it'd make me way happy knowing you were there for Spadamon!"

Neemon remained stoic, firmly standing his ground... until he let out a heavy snort. "ALRIGHT!! I FEEL MY SOUL CALLING OUT FOR ADVENTURE AGAIN!" he immediately turned and jumped right out of the opening in the bars. "Hey! Spadamon! Wait up!" he dashed off to catch up with Spadamon.

Kyouka just stared blankly, before turning to look at Camie. "Never use that power of yours for evil."

"No promises~" she giggled.

It was a harrowing journey, but Spadamon and Neemon made their way through the Goblimon-infested ship with relative ease. It helped that both Digimon had an acute sense of hearing, allowing them to duck behind some barrels or into a room once they heard footsteps approach.

Slow and steady wins the race, and they managed to make their way to the upper deck in a few minutes. The sails were drawn and the sky was dark with only the very faint light of dawn beginning to creep past the horizon, which would explain why there weren't that many Goblimon around if most of them were asleep.

"Now we just have to make our way to the captain's cabin..."

"Right!" Neemon nodded. "...and where would that be?"

Spadamon blinked. "I-I'm not sure, but we have to find it! Come on!"

The two Digimon scurried across the deck, making their way through the few guards that were still awake (by some metric of "awake"; most of them looked like the fell asleep with their eyes open) until they reached the other end of the galleon. They could spot a fancy-looking door, and the windows were showing light coming from the inside. They made their way around the deckhouse to remain hidden beneath the early morning's darkness, and with the help of a few boxes, managed to peer into the cabin.

And sure enough, they could spot all seven of the Digivices lying on top of a large desk. Unfortunately, they could also see Hookmon and a Goblimon still awake, and hovering over the devices.

"I still don't see what's so special about these things, my captain." the Goblimon who wore a striped bandanna on his head said, picking up one of the Digivices with a dismissive look. "They look like plain nick nacks to me, not very valuable."

"Don't touch those!" Hookmon quickly smacked the Goblimon's wrist with the curve of his hook. The Goblimon yelped, quickly placing the Digivice back with the others. "It doesn't matter what ye think! All that matters is there be a huge bounty for these things set in place, making them plenty valuable!"

"A-Aye, captain..." the Goblimon cowered. "Still, is someone really paying that much money for these things?"

"Aye! Calling it 'money' would be an understatement; just one of these little beauties are worth more money then ye ever seen in yer life!" Hookmon approached the desk, basking in the fortune lying before him. "Many years ago I had the chance to get me one of these, but some goody two-shoes got in me way. Now with seven in hand, I'll be rich beyond even me wildest dreams! I'll buy a whole fleet of ships with the most cutthroat crew riches can buy! I'll be the most powerful pirate in all the Net Ocean!"

"I-In that case, would it be possible to discuss a raise for the crew for all our hard work...?" the Goblimon sheepishly asked.

"Aye, I'll sure be wealthy and mighty! Harrhahahahh!!" but Hookmon just completely ignored him. "Now, away with ye! I need me beauty sleep if I'm to negotiate a better deal!"

"A-Aye, my captain..." the Goblimon just bowed his head and left, grumbling something under his breath that rhymed with "reap bollard" just as he exited the cabin.

Hookmon then scooped all the Digives into a drawer, and simply made his way to the hammock he had positioned on the other end of the room, climbing on top with a pleased sigh, still giggling to himself over the fortune he was about to make for himself as he quickly drifted off to sleep.

If there ever was a time to make a move, this would be it.

Spadamon and Neemon carefully opened the window, allowing the former a way in. Carefully, silently, he made his way over to the desk to open the drawer and start taking the Digivices out. Quickly he rushed back to the window, handing the Digivices carefully over to Neemon on the outside. But just as it seemed they were in the clear, Neemon spotted something moving, his eyes widening as he shouted-

"DUCK!"

The lion glanced back in time to see the cannon aimed towards him, and he threw himself to the ground as quickly as he could before it fired and tore a hole right through the deckhouse's wall.

"Yarr! Ye be trying to thieve me of me thieved goods, are ye!?" Hookmon growled as he jumped off his hammock. "Here I decided to be nice and keep ye Digi-runts alive, and this is how ye repay me!?"

"Neemon! Run!" Spadamon shouted as he got back to his feet, standing up to lunge at Hookmon. Neemon flinched as he peeked through the large hole in the wall and did as he was told, scooping up the Digivices he'd gotten and running as fast as his feet could take him.

However, by the time Neemon had already made his way past the deckhouse, the door would burst off its hinges as Spadamon was thrown right through it. Hookmon walked through the doorway, firing off another cannon round into the round. "WAKE UP, YE LOUSY MACKERELS! WE GOT FUGITIVES INFESTING THE SHIP!"

This quickly summoned over a dozen of the Goblimon guards who cut off Neemon's escape path, leaving him and the hurt Spadamon with nowhere to run; Goblimon ahead of them, Hookmon behind them, and water on all sides.

"I knew it! I knew this was a bad idea!" Neemon lamented.

"D-Don't give up yet...!" Spadamon said as he pushed himself back to his feet. "We just have to get the Digivices to the others... I'll hold them off, while you make a run for it!"

"Hold 'em off? Hold 'em off with what!? Your boyish good looks!?" Neemon shouted. "It's hopeless! We're done for!"

"It's not hopeless!" Spadamon shouted back. "I-It's never hopeless! It's only hopeless unless we give up!"

A chuckle left Hookmon. "What a magical sentiment, but I'm afraid it's one that won't be saving ye!" he aimed his cannon at the two, "Digimon for sale are a dime a dozen; I won't be hurting me profit by dumping ye two into Dagomon's Locker! Ha-HAHH!"

"HARRHAHAHAHAHH!!"

"Now, ye best be choosing yer last words carefully, 'fore ye meet yer-"

"YAAAH!!"

Hookmon heard the cry coming from the back of the line, seeing one of his Goblimon get launched into the air, soon followed by another. The figure darted at breakneck speeds beneath the cover of darkness, swatting aside Goblimon after Goblimon with ease as its cloak flowed behind it. Hookmon could barely keep up as the figure took out every crew member in its way, grabbing hold of their swords in the process, then charged right past Neemon and Spadamon, their weapons clashing with Hookmon's hook as he prevented himself from getting sliced in half.

"W-What in Olegmon's beard- Who are ye!? How did ye get aboard me ship!?"

Hookmon pushed against the figure to throw them backwards, the cloaked woman sliding to a halt and shouting back at the smaller Digimon- "GO!" before she jumped towards Hookmon again, her swords colliding with his hook several more times as they engaged in combat.

Spadamon took some of the Digivices off of Neemon's arms, and they both ran as fast as they could past the wounded Goblimon, and back down to the lower decks.

Unfortunately, the commotion had begun to stir the rest of the crew awake, and the Digimon soon found their path blocked by a pair of Goblimon. Spadamon was ready to try and push right through them, but to his shock, Neemon actually dashed ahead of him, sliding to a halt as he turned his back to the enemy and bent over for-

"Gassed Off!"

The release of the noxious stench was enough to buy them an opening, Neemon and Spadamon rushing past the coughing and gagging foes.

"That was some quick thinking!" Spadamon commented with a grin on his face.

"Y-Yeah, well, I get gas when I'm nervous! It had to go somewhere!" Neemon shouted back.

"Still counts!" the lion chuckled as they made their way across the ship's hallways, pushing past any further Goblimon that stood in their way until they finally arrived back at the brig.

"Izuku!"

"We're here, guys!" the Digimon shouted, quickly urging the imprisoned humans and Digimon to run up to the bars.

"Oh, thank goodness!"

"Way to go, Spada-kun! Nee-kun!"

The two held out the seven Digivices which were quickly picked up by their rightful owners.

"Labra-kun, you're up!"

"Candmon, go...!"

Camie and Yui aimed their Digivices, the glowing light emanating from them as well as their partners as their forms transformed.

"Labramon, Digivolve to DOBERMON!"

"Candmon, Digivolve to MERAMON!!!"

Just as more Goblimon began to flood the room, the large hound slammed right into the bars, tearing them off the wall, and facing the now-cowering pirates. "Schwarz Strahl!"

As Dobermon held off the goblins, Meramon used his fire to burn through Izuku's shackles, giving the boy his freedom and the ability to stand upright again. He was caught by Yui, Itsuka and Spadamon, the latter of which beamed with joy at seeing his partner back on his feet.

"Izuku!"

"Thank you for rescuing us, Spadamon." Izuku smiled at the lion who blushed slightly, but they weren't out of the woods just yet. "Everyone, let's get out of here!"

"Right!!"

The clash of metal on metal resounded on the galleon's upper deck as Hookmon did battle with the mysterious cloaked woman. Like two master swordsmen, their blows were blocked or parried in an almost dance-like rhythm. The woman stepped back at Hookmon's fierce assault, jumping atop a railing and walking backward on top of it as they headed up towards the bridge, closer to the helm.

Hookmon slashed his hook at her legs, but the cloaked woman easily jumped over them and landed with perfect balance back on the railing. The captain then swung his hook down vertically, and the woman jumped aside and landed atop the ship's wheel, balancing herself flawlessly as she continued to trade sword blows with the fearsome seadog. She then jumped into the air and grabbed hold of a rope, slicing it so she could freely swing over the captain's head and come to a landing against the main mast of the ship.

Several Goblimon were already climbing the ropes to get at her, but she quickly cut them up to send the goblins crashing into the deck. This gave Hookmon time to jump off the bridge and lunge right at the mast, using his hook to cling himself to it directly below the cloaked woman. He raised his cannon, firing off several Metal Shots and forcing the woman to swing from side to side as she climbed further up the rope and up the mast, until she was standing atop the sail beam itself.

"Ye think we can get away from me that easy!?" shouted Hookmon as he aimed his cannon downward this time. "Liquid Bullet!" instead of a cannon ball, the Captain Cannon fired off a powerful stream of water that shot him straight up into the air, allowing him to land on the sail beam after the cloaked woman. "Yarr-hahahh! I don't know who ye be, but I know this be the end of the line for ye!"

The woman backed up closer to the edge of the beam as the captain made his approach, ready to strike at any moment, before a commotion coming from underneath caught both of their attentions, seeing a whole bunch of Goblimon running out onto the main deck as they fled from something.

That something didn't take long to reveal themselves, as the furious lion came roaring out from below deck, followed quickly by the other Digimon and their human partners.

"Cherry Blossom Blizzard!"

"Poop Throw!"

"Schwarz Strahl!"

"Hunting Cannon!"

"Thunder Of King!" as more of the Goblimon dispersed from the fearsome attacks, Liamon looked up to see the cloaked woman cornered by the pirate captain. "Up there! The one who helped us!"

"We'll handle this!" Itsuka stepped up, "Dracomon!"

"Right, Itsuka! Dracomon, Digivolve tooooo AIRDRAMON!" the dragon soon took flight, strafing past the sails and throwing Hookmon off his balance by the wind built up from the flap of her wings. The captain nearly fell off the mast but hooked himself to the beam to prevent from falling off a painful height, left dangling off the side.

"D-Dang it! Blast it all! Blast it all to heck!" Hookmon cursed. "Ye ain't getting away with this! Ye hear me!?"

The cloaked woman didn't respond to him, watching as the Chosen quickly gained the upper hand against the pirates. She looked down at the deck, her eyes meeting with the humans' down below, and thought she was too far up for them to see it, she sneered at them in contempt. Then she ran back, and just as she reached the end of the sail, she jumped off and right out of the side of the ship, seemingly into the cold ocean waves... but shortly after there came the sound of an engine, the cloaked woman leaving the scene aboard a jet ski that fled into the dawn's early light.

"Th-This ain't over!" Hookmon still shouted, "Ye'll be walking the plank, the whole lot of ye! I'm the dread pirate Hookmon! I can't be beaten! I won't be beaten! There ain't nothing ye worms can do t-ulp!" he jolted as Airdramon approached, snorting hot air and causing the pirate captain to dangle precariously. With sweat dripping down his forehead, the fearsome man of the seas could only say one thing: "...I-I may be willing to bargain..."

As the morning Sun peered over the horizon, the Cerulean Permanence was silent, albeit with a lot of tension filling the air. The pirate captain Hookmon was locked up in the brig of his own ship, and his Goblimon crew didn't think twice before prostrating themselves before the Chosen and beg for forgiveness.

It was a bit awkward, to say the least. At least it was for Izuku...

"P-Please spare us!"

"We were just followin' orders!"

"I-I don't wanna walk the plank!"

"Don't kill us!"

He never expected to have two dozen people begging him to spare their lives; the thought of that happening just never crossed his mind even once! "W-We're not going to kill you! You can stop now!"

"But we might get very angry if you try to pull anything funny." Kyouka threatened, not sharing in Izuku's discomfort in using the situation to their advantage.

"W-We won't!"

"Our pirate days are over!"

"We'll be good! W-We promise!"

"These little guys are kind cute when they're, like, not being mean." Camie said. "At least, in an ugly-cute sorta way!"

"W-Wow, I ain't ever been called cute before..."

"Especially not from a pretty lady!"

"She must be some kind o' sea goddess!"

Neemon scoffed. "Look at these sad toadies, immediately kowtowing to a pretty face... don't you have even a lick of pride?"

Spadamon said nothing, just staring incredulously at Neemon.

"Now what do we do..." wondered Itsuka. "Our boat was destroyed, and we're not even sure where we are..."

"Well, technically, we do have a boat now, right?" Mina grinned. "We beat the captain, so we own our own pirate ship! How cool is that!"

"I-I don't know if that's how it works, Ashido-san..."

"Sure it is! It's the law of the sea, matey!" she assured Itsuka, who did not look at all assured.

"Reasoning aside, Ashido-kun has a point..." Saiko hummed in thought before-

Beep-beep! Beep-beep!

They all blinked when they heard the beeping coming from their Digivices.

"That's new..." said Kyouka as she inspected the small device, but found nothing strange. "What do you think that was about?"

"Maybe they need a recharge?" suggested Camie, although there was no way of knowing that for sure. They certainly hoped that wasn't the case; where would they find an outlet in the middle of the ocean!

"Hey, guys?" Mina spoke up next, "Look at the map screen!"

The others quickly did as she said, switching the display over to the map screen to see the seven blinking lights all clustered together in the center of the screen. Except... that wasn't all there was to it.

"Is that...?"

"Why are there eight blinking dots?"

Izuku's eyes widened slightly as he stared at the red dot blinking distantly from the others. This could only mean one thing, right? "Another Digivice! It's gotta be!"

"Then... could it be someone else who got brought here? If we follow the dot..." Itsuka realized.

"Right then!" Saiko clapped her hands, turning to the Goblimon. "You lot! Do you truly feel remorseful for your actions?"

"Y-Yes! We do!"

"We're very, very sorry!"

"Please don't hurt us!"

Saiko nodded, more confident in their next move. "Then you'll have the chance to prove it." she turned and walked up the stairs leading to the bridge, where she positioned herself behind the wheel. With a bullish smirk she shouted her orders: "RAISE THE ANCHOR AND LOWER THE SAILS! MAN YOUR STATIONS! We'll be setting sail right away!"

"AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!" the Goblimon unanimously shouted, before they quickly set to work.

Izuku blinked, looking up at Saiko. "Intelli-senpai, can you even pilot a ship like this?"

"I can give it a good try, that's for sure! Someone else is out there in the same situation as us, and we have to find them!" she said with great confidence. "Not to worry! The great Intelli Saiko is at the wheel, after all! My formula of success is already decided! Nothing can go wrong! Ha-HAHH!"

"HARRHAHAHAHAHH!!"

Izuku stared at the girl, and couldn't help but wonder if she was having just a bit of fun with this whole scenario, but it was hard not to get swept up in Saiko's boundless confidence. If they could find the other two Chosen, then maybe they could get better answers as to where they were and how to get back! Even with the knowledge that Miss Black was still out there and seemingly following them, he felt his his own confidence growing, but when he looked beside him he blinked, seeing Yui already wearing an eye patch over her left eye.

"Yarr..." she said while holding up a hook in her hand.

This was definitely going to be one of the strangest summers in his entire life, that's for sure...

Chapter Text

Sailing beneath the sunny skies, the glistening sea seemed endless. She had remained calm all journey, a stiff but pleasant salty breeze pushing the galleon along under perfect sailing conditions. It was like something out of an old manga; a mighty pirate ship and its merry crew crossing the waves on its way towards the unknown.

But at long last, the awaited words sounded out:

"LAND AHOOOOY!!"

"Solid ground! How I missed thee!" Neemon quickly landed on his knees, literally kissing the ground beneath him... only to quickly have to spit it out because the majority of it was sand.

"It does feel nice to finally get off the ocean." Kyouka had to agree as she stretched her legs. She then glanced back at the galleon, pointing up at the Goblimon. "So... what about them?"

Camie looked up and with a bright smile, she waved at the pirate crew. "You boys stay out of trouble, you hear~?"

"WE WILL!!" the Goblimon all shouted in unison, blushing as they waved back and bid their goodbyes to the sea goddess before preparing the ship to head back into sea.

She then turned to Kyouka with a double thumbs up, the other girl just staring dumbfounded. "Well, if it works..." Kyouka said.

"Camie really has a way with people, doesn't she?" Labramon said, rather proud of his partner's good nature.

Meanwhile, Alraumon lightly poked at the sand beneath her feet. "This is my first time touching soil outside of the islands... it's so exciting!"

"Traveling's always super exciting!" Mina giggled. "I still remember the first time I traveled outside of Japan on vacation. I was really young, so I was really nervous and thought I'd never be able to go back home! Of course, once I got there, I was so amazed by the different scenery that I completely forgot all of my worries!"

"Dracomon's not nervous! Dracomon excited to explore every corner of the island!" the dragon cheered.

Itsuka smiled down at the dragon, gently explaining: "Dracomon, we're not on an island anymore. This is a continent."

"Con...diment?" Dracomon blinked, getting Itsuka to quietly chuckle.

"Con-ti-nent." she explained. "Think of it like an island, but hundreds, if not thousands of times bigger."

"Woooaaah! That big!?" the dragon's eyes widened in amazement.

"Yeah, yeah! And there's way more people living on continents too, right?" Candmon jumped, showing off his knowledge on the subject. "And y'know what I heard? People who grow in continents also grow way, WAY bigger than those on islands! They're giants!"

Itsuka only stared at Candmon with an awkward chuckle. "Th-That's not exactly right, Candmon..." she said, but did have to stop herself. "Then again... if there's only Digimon around here, who's to say if he isn't right and that's how it works for them..."

"Mmh..." was Yui's response, only getting Itsuka more nervous as she couldn't read that response at all.

"So, where do we head next?" Spadamon asked.

Izuku hummed as he inspected his Digivice. "That's a good question... the eighth Digivice — if that even is what we're looking at — seems to still be a fair distance away from us. They also seem to be moving around a lot, which would make sense if they're trying to find the same answers we are."

"Then if we take too long, the distance might just end up widening, correct?" Bakomon asked, Izuku nodding as he thought of the same thing.

"We'll have to take that risk, I'm afraid." Saiko was quick to interject. "That pirate brute blew up all of our supplies, so we should look into getting more. The Goblimon could only spare so much, and God knows how long our journey is going to be." she reached into her vest's pocket, taking out a small hand-drawn map. "Luckily, the quartermaster was familiar with our position, and was kind enough to draw us a map. There's a few towns along the coast we can visit and resupply."

"...with what, though?" Mina asked. "It's not like we have any money."

Saiko hummed with a frown, having already thought of that of course, but it was still an annoying situation to be in. "Well, if push comes to shove, we will work for our food!" she concluded, much to Mina's displeasure.

"Greeeaaat... it's bad enough we're stuck in another dimension, but we gotta work now just to survive? Give me a break!"

"Well, I figure we can't exactly coast on our 'Saviors of Menu Archipelago' status out here." Kyouka said, "We're just regular Shmoes, so we gotta play the part."

"But we're the Chosen Ones, right!? That's gotta count for something!"

Itsuka hummed slightly. "Who knows if the people here have ever even heard of that legend. For all we know, it could be confined to the archipelago we came from. We'll just have to tough it out Ashido-san."

The pink girl groaned, urging her partner to pat her on the arm. "It's okay, Mina-chan; we're all here to help! Work goes by a lot faster when you're with friends!"

This got Mina to pause, snapped out of her funk. "Huh... you have a point." she looked over at the other humans, "We're technically friends now, I guess?"

Kyouka blinked. "What are you on about all of a sudden? Of course we're friends!"

"Well, yeah! You and Midori-kun, obviously, we're from the same class!" she then motioned to the others, "But we don't really interact with Class B much, and Utsu-senpai and Telli-senpai don't even go to the same school! We probably would've never even talked if it wasn't for this weirdo situation we find ourselves in."

"I suppose spending nearly twenty days together with someone does have the effect of bringing them closer..." Saiko frowned, "Still, I think calling us 'friends' is pushing it a little."

"Aww, don't be like that, Saiko-chan!" Camie pouted. "I'd totes love to be your friend!"

"I-I'm not saying I would be opposed to it!" Saiko quickly explained, "I'm just saying 'friend' is a word I personally don't use lightly. You've all proven yourselves to be trustworthy allies, but it's not like I know all that much about any of you."

"I guess that makes sense..." Mina deflated, but quickly perked up with a clap of her hands. "Then why don't we share some more about us! That way, we're one step closer to being friends!"

Saiko just grimaced slightly at that. "What is this, first day at kindergarten? We have more important things to focus on, you know!"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun, and it'll make the journey go by quicker!"

"I think that sounds like an awesome idea!" Camie cheered on Mina's suggestion, much to the pink girl's delight.

"I suppose It's not like we have anything better to do. it could be fun?" Itsuka shrugged with a quiet chuckle.

Saiko just sighed, seeing she was in the minority on this. "Fine, do as you want, as long as it doesn't slow us down." she then began walking, the rest of the group following along.

"OK, I'll get us started!" Mina cheerfully said. "Let's see... my name's Ashido Mina, but you already knew that! I was born in Chiba Prefecture, and my birthday's July 30th, so it's a bit too late to get presents from you." she giggled. "Dancing is kind of a passion of mine, second only to becoming a Hero of course! Not to toot my own trumpet, but-" she clapped her hands and gave a spin, followed by a snap of her fingers, "I'm quite good at it~! Hmm... oh! My blood type's AB, which explains my passion and creativity, but I guess I can be a bit forgetful at times and I talk a lot too!"

This quickly earned a scoff from Saiko. "Oh, please! Are you seriously going on about your blood type as if it has any effect on you as a person?"

"Ehh? Hey, c'mon, this thing's legit!" Mina argued.

"Even calling it pseudoscience is being generous, because it implies there's anything scientific about it!" Saiko shot back. "There are millions upon trillion upon quadrillions of different elements that actually affect a person's personality as they grow up, some innate and others not; blood type is not one of them."

Mina pouted with a huff. "Someone's a complainer... I bet you're an A type."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I'm right, aren't I-"

"THAT DOESN'T PROVE ANYTHING!" Saiko bristled.

Alraumon tilted her head, chuckling a bit at Mina and Saiko's banter. "Blood type sounds a bit like attributes, don't they?"

"Attributes?" Izuku blinked, his curiosity quickly growing.

"Ah, yes, they're like... signs that each Digimon possesses." Bakomon explained. "Although, it's not that an attributes dictates your personality, but the other way around. Depending on their personality, a Digimon is given an attribute that's meant to describe them."

"There's three in total!" Alraumon said, holding up her three fingers, "Harmonious, Moral and Wrathful. Harmonious Digimon like myself are easy-going; we just go with the flow, and generally live our lives without a care."

"Spadamon, quick! The notes!"

"On it!" the lion already held the book and pen in hand, vigorously writing down everything Alraumon was saying.

Content with her captive audience, Alraumon continued. "That's not say there can't be passionate or goal-driven Harmonious Digimon, but we'll usually just stick to our own plans unless pushed by other Digimon. Moral Digimon can be headstrong and confident, and they normally have a strong sense of what they feel has to be done, or what is the best thing to do. They march to the beat of their own drum, and don't back down on their beliefs easily. And Wrathful Digimon aren't nearly as scary as the name implies, they're just more assertive! They can be very emotional, even if they hide their emotions, and are just as wilful as Moral Digimon, so they'll often butt heads if they disagree on things."

"I suppose grouping personalities this way is at least more sensible than assuming correlation between blood type, or heaven's forbid, astrology." Saiko muttered.

"Thank you for that explanation, Alraumon! It'll come in handy for my notes." Izuku said.

"Don't mention it! Of course there's way more to it than that, that was just the basics!"

"Then, could you tell me more some other time? I'd really like to get to know you Digimon more."

"Of course! I'd be happy to, Midori-kun!"

"Hey! Mina clapped, "We're getting sidetracked! We were supposed to be talking about ourselves, remember?"

"Oops! Sorry, Mina-chan!"

"Sorry, Ashido-san!"

"Alright, alright, now... Kyouka-chan!" she quickly threw the baton. "It's your turn!"

"Wh- Hey! I-I don't remember saying I was going to be a part of this!" Kyouka quickly tried to stay as far away from this as possible, turning her head away to hide the soft pink growing on her cheeks. "B-Besides, it's not like I'm interesting or anything, so there isn't much to talk about..."

"Ehhh!? What's this nonsense I hear!" Mina huffed, "How the heck can you say you're not interesting! You're a super-musician! Did you not see the crowds you gathered back at the Chroma ship!? And your dad's, like, a real big shot music composer for a whole bunch of big stars, so what-nhyek!" Mina immediately flinched as Kyouka's earphone jack plug suddenly shot out and nearly hit her.

"H-H-How do you know that!?" Kyouka stuttered as her face was only growing redder, not helped by the fact Mina now had that evil grin on her face.

"I did a little digging~" she teased. "My dad's into all the oldies, and I just happened to glance at one of his records to find a familiar looking name! A quick online search told me everything I needed to know!"

"Th-That's a serious violation of my privacy!" Kyouka argued.

"...wait, you don't mean... you're Jirou Kyoutoku's daughter!?"

Everyone had to pause and look at Itsuka with some confusion over how fervent her voice had gotten.

Naturally, this quickly got her flustered, turning her head away to also hide her increasing blush. "I-...I-I've heard he's... kind of a big name, that's all..." she not-so-subtly fibbed.

Kyouka just groaned, fidgeting a bit as she grew uncomfortable with all the attention. "L-Look, so what? I can play a few instruments. Lots of people play instruments, it's not special."

Mina pouted. "Ahh, the shield's gone up. We're not getting anything out of her now." she sighed.

"Eh, Kyouka's good and all, but she's no Citramon, the Polka King of the Mideast!" Neemon enthusiastically stated, suddenly starting to dance as he sang an energetic polka song, getting everyone to laugh.

Her laughter dying down, Mina was already wondering about who her next target should be. "OK, up next can be-"

"Oh! Oh! Dracomon wants to hear about Itsuka next!" the little dragon bounced excitedly.

"Oh-ho, it's viewer's choice! Alright Kendou-chan, you're up!"

Itsuka flinched, her blush still in the process of dying down. She was very embarrassed being placed on the spot, but one look at Dracomon's beaming expectant face pretty much obligated her to comply to her wishes. "U-Uhm, well... I was born in Chiba Prefecture as well-"

"Whaaaat!? No way! We're Prefecture Pals!" Mina squealed.

Itsuka awkwardly chuckled a bit before continuing. "My interests are... nothing all that special. I like kung fu movies, and practicing it as well. I'd say physical exercise is a really important part of my life, and I workout just about every day."

"Oh boy, I'm gettin' exhausted just hearin' about it." Neemon commented, flustering Itsuka a bit.

"U-Uhm... oh! I've also dabbled in auto repair!" she quickly course corrected into something hopefully more exciting. "Mainly motorcycles, but I've worked on my mom's car too. Even got it to work a couple of times all by myself!"

"Woooooww!!" Dracomon gasped in amazement, staring up at Itsuka like she was the coolest and most amazing person in the whole world, until- "...Itsuka, what's a car?"

This nearly sent Itsuka falling on her face. They hadn't seen any kind of vehicles in the archipelago, so maybe she should have expected that.

"They're big metal death machines that you ram into things to crush them up and mince them in ritualistic sacrifices called destruction derbies." Neemon helpfully added.

"W-What...?" Dracomon's cheerful expression quickly shifted, now looked rather scared as she looked up at her partner. "Why would Itsuka work on a thing like that...?"

"Th-That's not true! Don't listen to him, Dracomon!" Itsuka quickly tried to defend her partner's innocence. "Cars are just... wagons, that's all! Wagons that don't need to be pulled by anyone! There's nothing nefarious about them!"

"...weeeeeell-"

"Shut! She does not need to know that yet!" Itsuka quickly hissed, getting Kyouka to clam up right away.

Dracomon's oblivious sunny smile quickly returned to her. "Yaay! Dracomon knew Itsuka would never work on something scary!"

"Me, me! Me next~!" Camie quickly raised her hand with a few excited hops. "Like, heeeeyy, hiiii! It's me, Utsushimi Camie-chan~! Born and raised in the great Saitama Prefecture, on the fifteenth of August! My blood type's O, as in "oh gosh, who is that handsome girl", as all the boys say~! My interests: anything dazzling and fun! Music's my jam, but so's partying on the dance floor, so I'm, like, a jack of all stats! I can be a mean cook too, but I wouldn't say that's quite my thing, but put a spatula in my hands and some grub on the counter and I'll make my own fun! Oh! I'm way into ice skating! And go kart racing too! Really, I just like going way fast, it's a bit of an obsession I gotta say! I'm also way, way, way into this new drama on TV, it's just got me hooked, line and sinker! But I also spend lots of time browsing the internet and chatting about just about anything, movies, TV shows, Heroes, oh, and there's this basketball court near my house, yeah, I shoot some hoops too, I also rollerblade, but sometimes I like to kick back by going out to karaoke, or just hang out at blah blah blah blah blah blah...!"

Everyone wasn't so much speechless, more like the girl just kept talking in one incredibly long unbroken sentence, moving from topic to topic, without giving them so much as a chance to get a word in. It was strangely hypnotic.

"Camie, maybe you should slow down, and just pick one thing you really like doing?" Labramon prevailed with the levelheadedness, getting Camie to snap out of her chatter.

"Hmmm... but there's, like, so much to choose from!" she said as she thought hard about. "I guess if I had to pick something I really like doing... painting."

This got Saiko to blink, clearly catching her by surprise. "That's... what?"

"Yep! Like, my illusions don't just come out looking flawless fro nothing, y'know?" Camie said. "I took up painting when I was an itty-bitty girlie to practice my Quirk, and I dunno, I just grew a fondness to it! Brings back some fond memories of days gone by...~" she sighed a bit nostalgically as she glanced aside at the sea.

Saiko still looked a bit in disbelief, as she most certainly didn't take Camie for an artist.

"Everyone has some really great skills, it seems." Bakomon cheerfully said before looking up at his partner. "How about you, Intelli-san?"

"Eh?"

"I bet you have all sorts of amazing skills! You're the great Intelli Saiko-san after all!"

"O-Of course I have skills!" she said with a bit of an air to her, just being taken a bit off guard by being put on the spot. "Seiai Academy doesn't just expect great heroics out of its students, but greatness all around! "A divine heart demands divine skill', as is our school motto! I'm lead violinist at the school's orchestra; I'm number one in the school's tennis rankings; head tot he debate team; unrivaled chess champion; even my carpentry and pottery works are without equal among my peers!"

"And just like that, I'm exhausted again..." Neemon said.

"Do you really balance all of that with Hero studies?" Izuku said, almost awestruck.

"Naturally!" Saiko smugly said. "Such banal activities are but mere diversions for the great Intelli Saiko! Ooohohoho!"

"A-Amazing, Intelli-san!" Bakomon said with tears in his eye. "You're undeniably amazing! The greatest! No doubt about it!"

Neemon watched with a flat expression, before leaning aside to whisper at Labaramon: "Five bucks I can guess what color his nose is underneath that box."

The hound just stared back at him in mild distaste. "Neemon, have some decorum!"

"Aaaaalright then!" Mina tried to divert the topic away from Saiko's boastful laughter. "How about you, Kodai-chan? Tell us a bit about yourself!"

"Yeah, yeah! Finally we get to Yui! I bet she's able to do lots of cool stuff! Like kickboxing! Or- Or punchboxing! Or boxingboxing! Isn't that right Yui!"

"Hmmh..." Yui let out a breathy hum that could have been of discomfort, but it was impossible to tell. "December. Nineteenth. Shimane. Writing."

Candmon deflated somewhat at this. "Eehh...? That's it?"

"Oh? You're a writer?" Itsuka said curiously, just happy to learn more about a member of her class that, up to now, had always been rather mysterious even to her. "What kind of things do you write."

"..." Yui didn't answer. She just slowly her head to stare directly into Itsuka's eyes with her cold, emotionless black holes. "...you're not ready..."

Itsuka only grew more nervous the more the eye contact was kept, along with that ominous answer. "I-...uhm... O-OK...?"

"I guess if Yui's writing it... it must still be cool!" Candmon reasoned. "I bet it's the coolest, most in-your-face writing of all time! The words are just all ZOW! And WOOSH!"

Yui looked down at the candle, her emotions imperceptible until Mina placed her hand on Yui's shoulder, giving her a serious look and short nod of mutual understanding, the other girl nodding back. "OK!" Mina then went right back to her usual self, "That only leaves our one-and-only Midori-kun!"

As expected, Izuku jolted in fear as he had kinda hoped he could slink away from the conversation. But now, all eyes on him, he was left a bit lost on what to actually say. "Uhm... u-uuhh... well, I-... I like, uhm-... I-I also do, uhh..."

"C'mon, Midori-kun, this ain't hard!" Mina said. "Just tell us what you like to do when not stuck at school!"

"Oh, uhm... I workout and train to do better at being a Hero!"

"Well, duh!" Camie snorted, "We all do that, dummy! But, like, what do you do when not training at school?"

"Uhm... I... train at home...?"

"..." Mina just stared incredulously. "OK, let's try this another way: what do you do that's unrelated to physical activity pertaining to becoming a better Hero."

"...I...work on my analysis on how to become a better Hero...?" the boy fearfully said.

The sheer, all-consuming stares of discontentment coming from Mina and Camie was crushing. Even worse as they slowly approached him, still eyeballing him with their unblinking glares, the threatening aura emanating from the two threatening to drown him in its weight.

"Midori-kun... mark my words..."

"As soon as we find a way back home, Izu-kun..."

"We are teaching you how to live!" the girls mutually threatened promised to a bewildered Izuku.

"S-Spadamon... help...!!" the boy feebly pleaded, but the lion only turned his head away.

"You're on your own, partner. There's a thing as working too hard, y'know...?"

Izuku was left at the mercy of the two she-devils, squeaking meekly as they began pestering him about his lack of personal life over the course of a journey that should not have felt as long as it did...

The peaceful town located by a cliff overlooking the ocean was unlike any they had visited so far.

Far removed from the simple huts and ancient stone homes of Menu Archipelago, the Hero students found themselves in a town that looked decisively turn-of-the-millennium. Small brick houses painted in multiple tones colored the area, creating narrow streets. Flowers adorned the windowsills, and the salty wind coming from the ocean gave the whole area a peaceful and homely feel, oddly nostalgic despite having nothing in common with the Japanese aesthetic they were accustomed to.

"Fascinating..." Saiko hummed as they traversed the peach-colored brick roads of the small town. "The style of architecture is most definitely European; I have no doubt about that! Old Italian, perhaps? I recognize many characteristics from old historical documentaries." she brought a hand up to hold her chin, already deep into analysis mode. "Although, since we came by the ocean, it seems impossible that we would have ended up in Italy. The journey was far too long for the Mediterranean Sea, and if we somehow came from outside and into the sea, we would've surely noticed the Pillars of Hercules on our way here... unless we were traveling westward this whole time from around Beirut? Although that would mean all of our compasses have been guiding us wrong somehow..."

"You are so in denial about this whole 'other world' thing, aren't you?" Mina flatly poked at the older girl, who flinched in response.

"I-I am not in denial! You are the one who's easily convinced by tall tales of science fiction!" she huffed. "The idea that were somehow spirited away into some alternate dimension is far too preposterous for me to believe without proof!"

Mina just stared at Saiko, before gesturing with her hands towards the strange creatures that accompanied them.

Saiko flinched again but for once, seemed unable to come up with a retort, just mumbling something under her breath about how there has to be a logical explanation for everything they've witnessed thus far.

"Not to interrupt, but..." Camie said with a hum as she looked around, "You guys, like, feel something's off?"

"What do you mean, Utsushimi-san?" Itsuka asked, nothing immediately coming to mind.

"Yeah... I think I noticed it too." Izuku said as he came to a stop, the others also stopping. "Where is everyone?"

It was one of those thing you just didn't notice until it was pointed out to you, and now, they couldn't ignore it. Not only were the streets completely empty, but there didn't seem to be any activity inside the houses either. There were no sounds except for the distant waves crashing into the cliff side, no chattering or murmuring, cheering or anything.

"It's like a real life ghost town." Mina commented.

"I'm afraid the scent of the ocean is much too strong for me to smell anything else." Labramon said, despite his best efforts.

"Do you think it's haunted?" Alraumon wondered, which got Kyouka to jolt.

"D-Don't be ridiculous!" she said, trying to hide her own nervousness. "Look, all the houses are in good condition! If this were abandoned or something, don't you think they'd be in more disrepair?"

"Maybe they're just very neat ghosts?" Neemon added, snickering lightly as Kyouka just aimed a pointed nervous glare at him

"Jirou-kun has a point; if this town is abandoned, then it would have to have happened fairly recently." Saiko posited. "Perhaps an evacuation of some kind?"

"Oh no! You don't think we're in danger just being here?" Camie said.

Saiko mused on the topic for a bit. "If it were anything serious, then surely there would've been signs preventing entry. Then again, if they left recently, and in big enough of a hurry..."

"Saiko-chan, you're not helpiiiiing!" Camie whined.

As this happened, Yui had already approached one of the door, lightly knocking on it to see if anyone was home. "No response..."

"You gotta try harder, Yui!" Candmon hooped, before suddenly slamming his foot against the door with loud knocks. "HEY! HEY! OPEN UP! WE JUST WANNA TALK! HEY!"

"C-Candmon, easy!" Izuku tried to settle down the candle Digimon. "We don't have to make a scene!"

"Maybe we just have to keep looking? Everyone could just be in another side of town, right?" Itsuka wondered.

"What if there's a party going on! We should go! We should go!" cheered Dracomon before she started running.

"Ah-! Dracomon, wait!" Itsuka ran off after the energetic dragon, the others quickly following them as they headed deeper into the town.

The scenario didn't change much the further they went, apart from the streets getting wider. But their luck would soon change once they reached the town center, a fountains sitting there in the middle, but most importantly there was at least one sign of life there.

Hovering in the air with the aid of a little propeller-shaped plant atop its head, it was a small seed-shaped creature with a small green body and a pink head, its eyes and mouth being simple black dots that made its expression cute but difficult to read. It held a small broom in its very tiny arms, brushing away at the dust around the fountain.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Lalamon

Level III

Type: Plant

Attribute: Harmonious

A flower bud Digimon that has achieved flight by spinning the leaves on its head. Although usually quiet by nature, it has a beautiful singing voice that can soothe the hearts of even rowdy Digimon. When angered, it spits a flurry of hard seeds with its Nuts Shoot!

---

"Oh good, so we're not walking into some potentially-irradiated hellhole!" Mina breathed a sigh of relief.

"Excuse me! Do you think you can help us?" Itsuka was quick to ask the little flower... but the flower didn't answer.

Izuku blinked, stepping closer as the Digimon only kept brushing the pavement. "Uhm... excuse us, but we were hoping we could-"

"COSTUMERS!" Lalamon suddenly shouted as he finally noticed their presence. "Oh, dear! I did not see you! My sincere apologies! Please, do not leave because of my rudeness! I implore you! I implore you!"

Izuku was taken aback by the Lalamon's over-eagerness to apologize, the Digimon intruding on his personal space as he pleaded. "W-We won't! We won't! We're just looking for-"

"Yes, yes, yes! Of course! You are looking for the greatest deals on the best brands! You'll find this, and much, much more at the B-K Shopping Mall! Yes, yes! You will go, yes, yes!? Of course you will go!" Lalamon quickly grabbed Izuku by his shirt and began dragging the confused boy right.

"W-Wat, wait, we just want-!!" Izuku meagerly flailed his wounded arms, unable to do much else as Lalamon continued pushing him.

The others stared for a moment, exchanging awkward looks.

"A shopping mall...?" Itsuka blinked. "In a town this small?"

"Well, we did say we needed supplies, so..." Kyouka shrugged.

"Aww yeah! A day at mall!" Mina cheered. "Raurau-chan, let's go! This is gonna be a great new experience for you!"

"Oooh! I'm getting excited just hearing about it!" Alraumon clapped her hands, and they quickly followed Lalamon and Izuku.

Sure enough, after a quick trip just outside of town, there it was: a large shining construct of bright colors and flashy advertisements; a modern-day castle made of arches and towers, housing dozens upon dozens of stores to suit your every need. It was obvious this is where the entire town's population was located in, as the shopping mall was packed with Digimon of all shapes and sizes, cheerfully traversing the many pathways of glowing neon to the upbeat tempo of an endless pop song playing on the speakers.

It was almost too much to take in all at once for the humans, but especially for the Digimon who had lived so disconnected from such gaudy sights and large crowds as the ones found at the B-K Shopping Mall.

"This... is a mall...?" Spadamon wondered, looking a bit uncomfortable even as they simply stood in the entrance. Their guide had all but abandoned them as soon as they got here, leaving them to figure things out for themselves.

"Woooaah! Dracomon's never seen this many Digimon in one building!" the little dragon meanwhile looked rather fascinated. "Everything's so colorful!"

"It... is a bit gaudy..." Itsuka commented, the bright neon colors, zigzagging patterns and highly-contrasting geometrical shapes that composed the decor certainly being eye catching.

"Oh, this is so my jam!" Mina pumped her fist. "C'mon, Raurau-chan! Let's check out all the clothes shops, and then we can-"

"Wait, Ashido! You didn't forget we're pretty much penniless, haven't you?" Kyouka quickly tried to snap the girl back to reality, but Mina only pouted at her before sticking out her tongue.

"That doesn't mean we can't try out cute outfits for free~!" she giggled, before her and the flower Digimon quickly dashed off into the crowd.

"Wait for me!" Camie called as she too ran off along with the pink girl.

"C-Camie! Don't run off without me!" Labramon also rushed after his partner

"Ashido-kun, Utsushimi-kun, wait! We haven't even decided where to-" she sighed, the pink girl already gone, "-meet up..."

Izuku looked at her and tried to pick her back. "Well, we always have the Digivices, so it's not like we can't find each other easily."

"I suppose that's true." Saiko conceded. "Still, I'd much rather we have have a meetup point." she looked forward and pointed at the fountain with a massive metal statue of what seemed to be the crude polygonal shape of a tapir-like creature, water pouring out of its snout, located at the very center of the bottom floor of the mall. "We'll meet by that fountain at four, understood?"

The others all nodded.

"Gotta say, I'm surprised how you're just rolling with this." Kyouka commented. "I figured you'd be telling us how this is a waste of time, and should get moving as quickly as possible."

Saiko just huffed at this. "This is a waste of time, don't get me wrong! But what you said earlier is correct, we are in desperate need of supplies. And, well, I'm not heartless! I figure we could all use a bit of rest after everything we've been through. A shopping center is a familiar sight, at least."

"That's Intelli-san! She's practical while also caring!" Bakomon cheered his partner, much to the delight of her ego.

With that, the group dispersed as they ventured deeper into the mall.

A black strapless dress, a see-through top, heeled shoes and necklace. A purple tank top, jean vest, shorts and countless bracelets on her arms. Skinny black jeans, lengthy blue jacket over a white shirt with a pink design in the front.

Mina tried on every combination of clothes she could, Alraumon joining her as they tried on matching outfits, or just whatever struck their fancy at the time.

"I must say, you're looking positively dashing, Raurau-chan!"

"Why thank you, Mina-chan! You look quite radiant yourself~"

The two giggled and quickly ducked into the changing rooms to try on yet another set of outfits. The clothes store seemed to have all kinds of different styles, managing to fit Digimon and human alike no matter their tastes in fashion.

"Oh! Try this one next!" Camie said, taking out a pair of sunglasses from the rack, and placing them on Labramon's face. "Wow! You look so slick, Labra-kun!"

"You really think so?" the dog wondered as he looked himself in the mirror, tilting his head.

"Mmhm, mmhm! We just need to find you a leather jacket, and you'll have all the Digi-ladies just howling for you when you enter a room~!"

Labramon just looked more confused. "R-Really...? I'm afraid I still don't quite understand this fashion thing..."

"You're doing great! Trust me~!" Camie giggled.

"I hope our selection has been to your liking!" the Vegimon saleswoman approached, humbly lowering her head towards her customers.

"Oh, yes, you have such totes cute stuff here!" Camie said. "It's a shame we can't actually afford any of it though."

"D-Don't just announce it like that, Utsu-senpai!" Mina quickly hissed, sticking her head out of the changing room. "You'll get us kicked out for loitering or something!"

Camie jolted a bit, but the Vegimon only chuckled. "No money, eh? Well, you're in luck! You girls just happen to be our twelve thousandth, three hundredth and sixty fourth costumers! That means you're entitled to our special promotion! Every item you can take is free of charge!"

"Really!?"

"WHAT THE HECK, SERIOUSLY!?" Camie and Mina both exclaimed their surprise, Mina a bit more loudly. "We can just whatever we want!?"

"Whatever you want!" the Vegimon replied.

Labramon frowned a bit. "Is that really alright...?"

"Of course, of course! It's our way of saying thank you to all of our cherished costumers!" the saleswoman assured them. "Before the B-K Shopping Mall, we were confined to meaningless humdrum lives in a no-name village; but now, we can truly believe that we are part of something greater! Something that will put us on the map! And we couldn't accomplish that without people like you, how most esteemed of customers! You, who peruse our items and make this place feel like a home! Like a family! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!"

Mina eyes sparkled with excitement. "THIS IS AWESOME~!! Alraumon! Let's shop till we drop~!"

"OK!"

Camie hummed before clapping her hands. "Alright! I can pick up some clothes for myself then, too~! Like, I'm getting a bit tired of the same school uniform, even if I do make it look great~!"

"Well, I still don't quite get it, but I guess if it's important to you, Camie." Labramon said, just going along with whatever his partner did.

Mina, Alraumon and Camie spent the next minutes looking through more outfits, picking what suited them and what didn't, until those minutes soon turned into an hour... then two... then three...

Kyouka and Neemon made their way through the crowd of Digimon, not really having any goal in mind. Really, what point was there to spend time at a shopping mall if you weren't planning on buying anything?

"Geez, this place is packed..." Kyouka noted. "The only time I've seen a mall this busy is around the holidays, and even then, it isn't this busy."

"Pshh! it's real easy for places like these to control the feeble-minded masses." Neemon dismissively said. "Just flash a discount or a sale in their face, and they'll be drawn in with the empty promises of fake savings on items they don't need, but feel obligated to ow-MASSAGE CHAIRS!!" Neemon quickly darted towards the chairs on display, jumping right onto on and setting it to lean back and begin vibrating. "Oo-o-o-o-o-o-oh ye-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah, tha-a-a-a-a-at's the stu-u-u-u-u-uff...~!"

Kyouka just stared blankly at how quickly her partner seemed to change tunes when it was something he wanted.

"Hey. Hey, little lady! Over here!"

Kyouka blinked as she heard an old voice call to her from a nearby shop, and saw what seemed to be a short bipedal green frog with large eyes, and a horn-like instrument coiled around the base of its neck. The store he stood at the doorway of held many different instruments that she could see from the store window.

"You seem like a girl who appreciates good music!" the Gekomon said. "How about you take a look at my store!"

"Uhh, well, I won't say you're wrong, but..." Kyouka explained, "I don't have any money on me. Sorry."

"That's OK! We're having a special promotion today!" the old man excitedly said. "It's the seventy fourth day of the old southern-polar calendar! Everyone knows that! It's a special day for music lovers everywhere, so we're offering one free instrument to our costumers!"

Kyouka blinked. "Wait, seriously? That's-..." she paused, quickly getting a suspicious look on her face. "What's the catch? Do I have to sign up for a membership card or something?"

"No catch! No string attached!" the Gekomon assured her with a chuckle. "It's just our way of saying thank you to our esteemed costumers! When I opened up my old shop, I was so frightened. I barely made any money, and spent my days worrying if it would fail, if nobody wanted instruments made by some washed up old man like myself... but then the B-K Shopping Mall was built, and allowed me to move my store here! My store finally became popular overnight! I could hardly believe it, and it was all thanks to the B-K Shopping Mall! All I ever wanted was to spread the joy of music, and for that, I'm eternally grateful to everyone who walks through here! Even if you've never bought anything from my store, it would still do this old heart wonders if he knew you were out there spreading your music with one of my instruments!"

Kyouka relaxed after that story, feeling the genuineness in the old frog's voice. "Well... I guess my last guitar did get blown up by pirates... sure, I'll have a look. Thank you, old man." she said before stepping into the store, seeing the wide variety of handcrafted instruments lining the walls. There were guitars of all shapes, but also wind instruments made of wood and brass, and several percussion instruments too.

Naturally Kyouka was drawn to the guitars right away, testing their sound and feel at the behest of the shopkeeper. Each guitar had its own feel, and if she was going to get a free instrument, she might as well get one she felt comfortable with. But the more guitars she tried, she felt each one was just as good as the other; she couldn't decide between two, which then became three, then four, then five, and then the other instruments started looking so appealing too...

"Food, food, food, food, fooood!" Dracomon cheered as she hopped right into the food court session of the mall.

"Dracomon, don't run off ahead of me! You could get lost in the crowd!" Itsuka tried to temper her partner's excitable nature with meager results.

"Itsuka! Itsuka, look! Everything smells so good! Let's eat, let's eat!"

The food court, like the rest of the mall, was packed to the brim with Digimon enjoying varied and fulfilling meals from the over a dozen different food places available, which filled the air with and overflowing aroma of freshly-cooked food. It was definitely enticing, but...

"Dracomon, I'm sorry, but you know we don't have any money. We can't afford any food right now."

Dracomon's good cheer quickly deflated, her heart broken. "But... Dracomon's really hungry... Itsuka! Dracomon's hungry! Please, let's get food! Food!"

Itsuka flinched as the dragon began nervously bouncing and flailing as she pleaded. "D-Dracomon, even if you say that, there's nothing we can-

"NO! Dracomon's HUNGRY! SHE WANTS FOOD! WANTS FOOD NOW! NOW! NOW!" Dracomon threw a fit right in the middle of the crowd, and naturally-

"Hey-! Watch it!" she smacked right into another Digimon, a strange creature in overalls with a head like a potato, complete with potato slices as its hair and tail. "You almost made me drop my lunch, ya did!" the Potamon complained, having managed to hold on to his tray with a plate of fries.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, sir! Dracomon, apologize right now!" the dragon pouted petulantly at Itsuka's request, only mumbling an apology in return.

"What's with all the ruckus anyway?" the Potamon asked as he nibbled on his fries. "Ya girls gotta be more respectful of everyone else, and not make so much noise."

"You're right, we're very sorry, it's just..." Itsuka tried to explain despite knowing it wasn't an excuse, "My friend here is hungry, but we don't have any money..."

Potamon raised his eyebrow as he munched on his food. "So? Don't you girls know what day it is? It's the day of the six hundredth and twenty fifth phase of the Moon since the last six hundredth and twenty fifth phase of the Moon! All the restaurants are having their special promotion: one free meal per costumer in every restaurant!"

"Wh-...What?"

"REALLY!? REALLY REALLY!?" both Itsuka and Dracomon were knocked back by this information, just in different.

"Yep! Although it's a one time thing per restaurant, so better choose carefully." the Potamon said before walking away to find a seat for himself.

"...well, I... guess that solves that!" Itsuka said, now far more cheerful. "Isn't that great, Dracomon?"

"Yaaay! Yaaay! Dracomon's going to eat a ton!" the dragon cheered. "She doesn't even know where to start!"

"Alright, let's see... everything looks really good..." Itsuka said as she looked around at all of their options. "I think we should go for something healthy, we have a long road ahead... but maybe we should try something more filling, if that's the case; we don't know how long we have until our next meal... oh, but is that a Chinese restaurant? I haven't had Chinese food in so long... ahh, but that ramen shop... the smell is just so good...!"

"Burgers- no, pasta- no, burgers- no, steak- no, pasta- no, fish- no...!!" Dracomon excitedly bounced from side to side, trying to decide what to even start with.

The two wandered around the food court trying to find the right thing to eat, first taking a few minutes... but those minutes began stretching into hours...

"Where is everyone!?" Saiko bristled as she waited at the foot of the fountain. "I specifically said four sharp! That was two hours ago!"

"Maybe they just got distracted, that's all." Bakomon suggested, but it didn't do much to calm Saiko down.

"I was hoping we could find a pawn shop around here somewhere; this laptop I got from the Chroma Army should at least go for some money we could've used to buy supplies, but..." she sighed, "Of course there's no pawn shop anywhere in this bloody place! Why should our luck change for the better!"

"I-Intelli-san... Maybe we should at least try to get into the spirit of things? You did say we needed to relax, right? Look!" he pointed at a nearby store, "There's a bookstore over there! Why don't we check it out while we wait for the others?"

Saiko didn't look impressed, but still sighed and resigned herself to just going along with it. "Fine. I guess if we're going to kill time, might as well..." she got up, the two then heading to the store right away.

The store itself wasn't very big, but it was filled with books from top to bottom of all kinds and colors.

Humming, Saiko looked around as her curiosity slowly grew. "I must admit, I a rather curious to see what sort of literature Digimon have." she stepped up to one of the shelves. She reached out at the first book that caught her eye, pulling it out to read the cover.

"..."

The Brave Little Poop That Rebelled Against The Toilet.

"..." she immediately shoved it back in its former resting place. "Never mind. I think I'm done here." turning, she already began exiting the store. "Bakomon, we're leaving!"

But she got no answer, stopping and looking back.

"Bakomon?" she blinked, seeing the box Digimon already buried in several books. "Did you hear me? I said we're leaving!"

"B-But Intelli-san, we can't!" Bakomon pleaded. "There's so many great books here! And look!" he pointed at a sign posted on the wall, "They're having their 'There Is An Even Number Of Fishes In The Pond Bonanza Promotion', letting you pick any two books and take them home for free!"

"What the deuce kind of a promotion is that!?"

"Aaah, but there's so many books! Why can I only take two! I can't decide... I just can't decide!!" fretted the Digimon as he kept pulling books to quickly flip through them in the hopes of making a decision.

Saiko just sighed tiredly. "Well, fine! I'll be waiting by the statue; come meet me there once you're done." she said, and quickly exited the store. As she took her seat by the fountain, placing her elbows on her legs to proper her head on her hands, she finally heard-

"Intelli-senpai!"

"Well, finally!" she said as she straightened up, seeing the familiar green haired boy approach through the crowd. "What part of four o'clock don't you understand!?"

"I-I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" he immediately apologized, "It's just... Spadamon found a store that was selling, uhm... 'genuine ninja weaponry', I guess, a-and he got really excited about them all of a sudden. They were having some kind of promotion and giving away one for free, but he couldn't decide which one to get... I kept waiting for him to choose, and before I knew it, it was already past the time we settled on. He told me to just go, and that he'd meet us here when he made his choice."

Saiko huffed slightly at this. "Well, I guess I can't exactly blame you for that. Bakomon's over at that bookstore with the same 'dilemma', sad to say."

"I guess all we can really do now is-"

"Yeah! There they are! Heeeey! Heeeeeeeyyy!" the two quickly heard Candmon's voice call out to them, seeing the Digimon alongside Yui make their approach. "See, Yui? I told you we weren't late!"

"You most certainly are late!" Saiko hissed. "So? Let's hear it. What's your excuse?"

"Toilet..." Yui bluntly answered.

"I'm shy with public toilets..." Candmon admitted a lot more shyly than was normal for him. "It takes me a while! So what! Big whoop! Wanna fight about it!?"

"Did you find anything interesting, Kodai-san?"

Yui shook her head in response.

"Yeah, this place is lame!" complained Candmon. "They should have a fighting cage here! Oh! Or maybe a ring! Or maybe a ring with a cage! That'd really draw people in!"

Izuku chuckled quietly at Candmon's suggestion, but before he could comment-

"Guys! Guys!" they all heard Labramon's bothered voice.

"Labramon? What's wrong?" asked Izuku as the dog approached.

"I-I think something's wrong with Camie and the others!" he worriedly explained. "They've been trying on clothes for hours now, always saying they just couldn't decide which ones to take... whenever I tried to warn them that we should find you, they just kept ignoring me. I thought that was strange at first, but then the longer this went, they began acting more like they were under some kind of trance! I couldn't even get them to respond anymore!"

"W-What!?" Candmon jolted.

Izuku's eyes widen as he look at Saiko. "Spadamon... he was acting the same way!"

"And Bakomon too... oh no... you don't think-"

Bing-bong-bing-BONG!

"Attention, shoppers~! We're sorry to interrupt your most wonderful of day, but the management requests that you all head out and face the grand statue in the middle of the hall to sing our establishment's company song~!"

As soon as the announcement came, they could just tell something was off. Everyone had stopped in the tracks at the exact same time, and they all turned in unison, marching in tandem as they approached the giant metal tapir statue and surrounded it. They eyes were glazed over, almost dead as if under a spell; among the crowd the others could spot Camie, Mina, and everyone else as well with the same dead look in their eyes, and empty smiles on their faces.

And then, all at once, the crowd began to sing.

"Sturdy as the greatest boulder, and beautiful as the sea~!
We sing in honor of its entrance arch, and the great statue that all can see~!
Its deal are simply unbeatable, there is just so much to buy~!
So come along and spend, spend, spend; otherwise you might as well just die~!
We owe our happiness to the company, they make our lives so bright~!
So sing along to this trademarked song; let all your wildest dreams take flight~!
Sing for the deals! Sing for your life! Sing because we are in debt, one and all~!
Our joy; our health; we owe it all, to the greaaaaaat B-K Maaaaaaaaall~!!"

As the crowd sang its eerily cheerful song, small clouds of pink smoke began to emerge from their heads, all rising high above them as they floated towards the top of the map, coalescing into a thick cloud just at the tip of the tapir statue's trunk.

"Ufuho-hohohoho~!" the announcer's disembodied voice returned, "Very good~! Very good, my little shoppers~! You all performed so well~!"

"That voice... ah! Up there!" Izuku pointed upwards, as justabove the pink cloud, a strange tear in the air appeared, shining in multiple muted colors.

"Such wonderful desires you all have~! Such delectable daydreams that have gathered here today~! I thank you! I really do~! The more things one sees that they do not own, it is only natural to feel the desire to obtain them! Aaaahhh, it's that desire, those wonderful thoughts of 'oh, I wish' and 'oh, but what if I could' that provide the most tasty of meal~!" the voice continued, and from the portal in the sky, emerged a peculiar creature shaped like a tapir, with a small body and oversized head, wearing a white mask over it; it wore a strange jacket with swirly patterns and a bow tie, as well as a top hat and cane, hovering on a dreamy white cloud as a circle of floating miniature sheep rotated behind him. "Today is a great day! Today is the day all of you are initiated!" the Digimon loudly proclaimed.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Dreammon

Level IV

Type: Bewitching Beast

Attribute: Wrathful

A Digimon that is freely able to manipulate the dreams of others. Do not be fooled by its comical appearance; it is a dangerous Digimon that is capable of controlling the body of others, and put them in a sleepwalking-like state! Its special move, Dream Theater, concocts the perfect dream scenario that keeps its prey sedated as it feasts on their thoughts and dreams!

---

It didn't take a genius-level IQ to figure out this Digimon had to be behind all of this. "You! What have you done to these people!?" Saiko shouted, perhaps a bit too hastily.

"Hmm~?" Dreammon blinked, looking down at the five. "What's this? A pair of shoppers not following along with the program? How curious..."

"Whatever you're planning to do, we won't allow it!" Izuku firmly said. "Whatever power you have them under, take it back!"

"Spell? Ufuho-hohoho! My boy, this is no spell! This is just as much their doing as it is my own!" Dreammon taunted as he twirled his cane. "You see, everyone has wants! It is only natural to have them, there is no shame in admitting it! Wants are what brings us joy, they create our dreams! And it is those wants, those desires, that have turned everyone you see here into these little puppets~! The more one wants, the more of a slave they are to that desire! It was only a matter of time before you find that one thing you must have above all else in your life; all I merely did was push things along, and aim that slavish desire into a greater cause!"

"Greater cause? What in blazes are you on about?" asked Saiko.

"My, you are clueless, aren't you? Ufuho-hoho!" he laughed. "Once I eat the dreams and desires of everyone here, they will become my obedient servants! I will then use them to expand upon the B-K Mall, and draw in more and more, and more people! I will create the greatest shopping center in the whole world! And with it, I will feast upon all those wonderful, wonderful, tasty dreams brought here by our esteemed customers~!"

"You're taking advantage of people just for your selfish gains! That's unforgivable!" Izuku shouted.

"I am giving them what they want! The chance to be surrounded by all the things they crave the most, for all eternity!" Dreammon laughed. "I suppose the reason you've escaped is because nothing at my mall captured your eye, and now you stand in the way of all these peoples' happiness. How bothersome."

"Not a single bit of this has to do with 'happiness'; don't delude yourself!" Saiko shouted back.

"Aaah... but even you must have wants, no? Yes, yes, of course you do! We all do! What is your precious item that you crave, I wonder?" Dreammon's voice took a more soothing tone, and they all felt it difficult to ignore it. "Is it something simple? Something cheap? Something expensive? Something you desperately need? Something that would make your life better? Or just something that would fill you with joy?"

Izuku flinched, feeling his head getting flooded with intrusive thoughts; thought of All Might merchandise he didn't have; thought of merchandise he couldn't have thanks to their limited release or extravagant price. The other felt it took, Yui, Saiko and Candmon actually grabbing their heads as more and more thoughts came flooding to them. The stuff they didn't have; the stuff they wanted; why couldn't they have it; why shouldn't they!?

"What's-...What's h-happening...!?" Izuku struggled to keep his thoughts straight.

"Ufuho-hohohohoho~!! Once inside my Dream Theater, it is a cake walk for me to take control of your thoughts! boasted Dreammon as he resumed twirling his cane. "I can make you obsessed with anything, so long as I manage to get you to think it even just for a second! So, go ahead! Think about your most prized desires! Let your material obsession take over! Free yourself from oppressing your truest self! Succumb to to your wishes! And tell me... what is it you crave~?"

"I-... I-I..." Izuku struggled to control himself, but his mind was a maelstrom of noise. "Th-The limited edition 20th anniversary Silver Age All Might poster!!"

Saiko stumbled and fell to her knees, still gripping her head. "Th-...That teddy bear... that teddy bear at the window... p-please, daddy, w-why can't I have it...!?"

"Kits...!" Yui struggled, "Kits... all of the kits...!"

"Nrgh...! Must... eat... more meat...!!" Labramon strained.

"Ufuho-hohoho! That's it! That's it~! Keep going! Fall deeper and deeper into your desire~! It doesn't matter if it's big or small; important or not; we all have them; we all crave for them! Let's celebrate it together!" he then focused on the small candle Digimon. "And how about you, little one? What is it that you want?"

Candmon grit his teeth, shivering as he felt the rush of thoughts beating around inside his head. "I want-... I want-... I want... TO PUNCH YOUR BIG UGLY FACE!!!"

And with that, Yui's eyes widened as Candmon's voice pierced through her mind, and a brilliant light shone brightly to engulf Candmon in an instance.

"W-Whaaaat!?" squealed Dreammon as he saw the Digimon transform right in front of him.

"Candmon, Digivolve to MERAMON!!!" the burning Digimon let out a furious shout as his body blazed up, Meramon leaping high into the air to land atop the tapir statue. "HWAH HA HA! Listen up! All I want is to fight stronger and stronger opponents! That's my burning wish! I don't care about anything else! And you, since you have to hide behind such lame cheap tactics, I'm guessing you're not very strong! But that's OK; beating up Villains like you is just as good! Crimson Flame!!"

Dreammon let out a shriek as he desperately flung himself to the side to dodge the fireballs launched. "I-Impossible! I-Is this-!? Can you really have such mental strength!? Are you truly this much of an ascetic!?"

"I don't even know what that word means!! HWAH HA HA HA!!!" Meramon howled with laughter, throwing more and more fireballs to keep the tapir on the run.

The noise inside the three humans' heads quickly dissipated with Dreammon's intervention, giving them their focus back.

"O-Oh, thank goodness, it's over..." Saiko sighed in relief.

Dreammon only grew more frustrated at his plan being interrupt. "Y-You...! Don't take me so lightly! Dream Theater!" at the Digimon's call, the tapir statue's eyes suddenly began glowing as the metal statue soon began to move. "Everything in this mall is of my design! As such, it is within my power to control it as I please!"

Meramon hung on to the statue as it flailed to get him off of it, but eventually he'd be thrown out and sent crashing to the floor.

"Meramon!" Yui called out to her partner.

"Urgh... I'm OK, Yui! It'll take more than that to keep me down!"

"Meramon, listen to me!" Izuku spoke, seeing the giant statue begin to approach. "You have to burn as hot as you can, and melt that thing down!"

"now you're speaking my language! You got it, Izuku!" Meramon jumped back to his feet, "EAT THIS! HEAT WAVE!!!" Meramon's body flared with such intensity that a sweltering high temperature soon filled the entire mall, as the burning Digimon unleashed streams of burning hot flames from his arms that engulfed the statue in seconds. The statue simply couldn't stand up to such intense heat, quickly beginning to lose its shape and melt into a harmless puddle in the ground. The sheer breath of Meramon's attack was also so great that Dreammon could not escape it in time.

"AAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!" the Digimon squealed as his lower half was caught in the flames, forcing him to dive straight down onto the fountain to put out the fire.

Meramon then stumbled and collapsed onto one knee, clearly exhausted after expending that much energy.

"Meramon..." Yui stepped closer to her partner, worry clearly showing on her face.

"I-...It's alright, Yui..." Meramon assured her as he forced himself back to his feet. "What is it... you guys keep saying...? When you train to be Heroes, you're... you're expected to keep pushing, even when you reach your limit, right? Well, what... what kind of partner would I be if I didn't follow the same creed as you!?" he clenched his fist tightly, which burned intensely all over again as he glared at his opponent. "This is me... proving myself as a Hero, just like Yui!!" he cried out as he rushed forwards, aiming his punch straight at Dreammon's face. "Burning Fist! PLUS ULTRA!!!" the fist connected with a powerful crack, before- "HATATATATATATATATATATATA!!!" Meramon proceeded to continue punching Dreammon square in the face at incredible speeds, before wone finally flaming fist sent the dream stealing Digimon flying over the gathered crowd, and straight through a storefront, through the display cases, and right through the back wall.

As the dust cleared, the pink smoke gathered above them all began to descend, everyone's dreams soon returning to them. The entire shopping mall began to twist and melt into nothingness all around them, until everyone was left in an empty field.

Meramon stumbled as his body glowed, soon transforming back into Candmon who siply collapsed backwards fro the exhausting, quickly being caught by yui. "Huff... huff... Yui... did I... did I look cool...?"

"The coolest..." Yui told him, a small smile appearing over her lips.

"H-...Ha ha... I'm... I'm all kinds of awesome..." Candmon weakly cheered for himself, as the crowd around them came back to their senses.

There was a lot of confusionat first, the Digimon enslaved by Dreammon taking some time to remember exactly what had happened, but once they did, they were quick to cheer for their saviors. In a short amount of time, life resumed as usual for the small and peaceful town by the ocean. Everyone reopened their old shops, which even through bad times, they all agreed it would be better to struggle through than to sell their souls to someone like Dreammon again.

The Chosen enjoyed a heroes' welcome to the village, despite them not wishing to intrude too much, and were still showered with gifts for their coming travels. While they hadn't gotten the relaxation that they had hoped, they had gotten the supplies they needed, and the next day they would be ready to continue their journey towards the eighth Digivice's signal...

"Huff... puff... huff... guh..." away from the town, Dreammon dragged his wounded body to safety. "M-My precious mall... my dinner... all ruined..."

"Such a pity, isn't it..."

The soft voice froze Dreammon in his spot, before he quickly turned around to see a dark shadow looming nearby. "Y-You!? You... you were here the whole time...!?"

"I did." the figure said. "In fact, I've been watching for quite a while. And I heard everything."

Dreammon gulped as sweat began dripping down his head. "Th-That's... well..."

"So, tell me... at what point during your grand expension were you planning on actually fulfilling your mission?" the voice didn't rise about a soft tone, yet it carried with it more menace than any shout.

"I-...I-I... o-of course I planned on getting to it!" Dreammon frantically lie. "I-I was... I was merely amassing an army that would let me widen my search, that's all!"

"Come now, why must you lie to me like this?" the figure sighed. "You know it won't save you..."

"I-... Th-That's not-... W-Wait! I-I can still be of use!" Dreammon pleaded. " Th-Those humans! I-I saw it! They carried Digivices with them! That's how they defeated me!" I-it was the Digivices!"

The dark shadow hummed. "So... there are yet more Chosen out there making things harder for us... and you failed at stopping them, yes? You are certainly not helping your case."

Dreammon flinched. "P-...P-Please...! I-I'll do better! I promise! I-I'll do better next time! S-Spare me, please! I'll do anything!"

"Anything...?"

Dreammon felt a glimmer of hope return him. "Y-Yes! Anything! Anything at all! Anything you ask of-"

His groveling was cut short as a knife suddenly pierced his head. Three more times lunged out to stab him, before they slashed faster than the eye could see, slicing up Dreammon into nothingness as dust-like particles floated into the air.

"There is nothing you can give us anymore." the figure somberly spoke, before slowly vanishing back into the shadows...

Chapter Text

"Well, that's the last of our rations..."

"What!? Already!?" Mina exclaimed, taking her eyes off of the fire they were using to cook their seemingly last bits of fish. Having camped out for the night, the Hero students and their Digimon prepared their dinner, some of them already tucked into their sleeping bags generously offered by the thankful townsfolk they saved.

Itsuka nodded. "I'm afraid so. We have enough for breakfast tomorrow, but after that, we're on our own."

"That's bogus!" the pink girl huffed. "Couldn't those guys at the last town give us a bit more? I mean, we did free them from that bad guy, right?"

"You didn't actually do anything..." Kyouka added, but Mina just shushed her.

"They gave us all they could, Ashido-san." Izuku said, "We'll make due somehow. We survived on the islands mostly by scavenging for ourselves, right?"

"This place doesn't seem to have as much food out in the open, though." Spadamon spoke up with a harsh dose of reality. "Back on the islands, there were fruit trees and ponds full of fish everywhere you looked, but I haven't seen many fruit trees around here, and we haven't come across any ponds or rivers."

"And the further we travel from the ocean, fishing is certainly out of the option." Labramon piled on.

"C-Come on, let's be positive!" Itsuka tried to cheer up the others. "We've only been traveling for two days; maybe we're just in a bad area, that's all!"

"Saiko-chan, is there anything in that map of yours that can help us?" Camie said as she swayed back and forth inside her cozy sleeping bag.

"As a matter of fact, there is." Saiko nodded. "The Goblimon marked a town close by called Sandypond; it's actually the furthest settlement they wrote down for us. We should be able to arrive there tomorrow, and follow our original plan. We'll find some odd jobs and get some money that way."

Mina quickly groan, even Camie puffing out her cheeks as she rested her chin on her knees.

"We can't rely on luck and generosity forever, and scavenging is only ever going to take us so far!" Saiko huffed at the reaction. "Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and get down to work!"

"That doesn't mean we have to like it!" Mina pouted.

"If we all just do our best and work together, I'm sure it won't be so hard." Itsuka tried to cheer her up.

"Itsukaaa... is it time to eat?"

Itsuka blinked, looking down at Dracomon, then focusing on their dinner. "Not yet, just a little while longer, Dracomon."

"Waaaahh..." the little dragon groaned. "Dracomon hungry..."

"How about we play a game while we wait then!" Camie perked back up with a clap of her hands.

"Oooh, that's a great idea!" Mina cheered.

"What should we play, Mina-chan?" asked Alraumon.

"A bottle... a bottle... my kingdom for a bottle..." Neemon wallowed to himself.

Camie hummed. "How about... ten fingers!"

"Nice! I'm up for that!" Mina giggled.

Kyouka looked a bit uncomfortable with the idea, but it's not like she had much else to do. "Well... I guess it's harmless..."

Both Izuku and Itsuka just exchanged confused looks, the former being the first to ask: "Uhm... what's ten fingers?"

"It's way simple, don't worry!" Camie assured him. "Can I borrow one of your notebooks and pen?"

Izuku blinked, but saw no reason why not and Spadamon handed it over to her.

"We each write a few questions on a bunch of cards, starting with 'never have I ever' follow by something you never did. Then, we take turns drawing cards, and if someone else playing has done that thing, then they raise one finger; when they get ten fingers up — or ten points, so to speak — they lose!" Camie then proceeded to rip out a few pages from the notebook, carefully folding them to be able to rip the up into multiple semi-identical squares. "If no player raises their finger, then the person who asks gets a point. The winner is the last man standing!"

This game sounds familiar, but... Saiko thought to herself, although that wasn't exactly the version she'd heard.

"One, two... uhh... three... Itsuka, Dracomon doesn't have ten fingers..." the dragon said as she held up her hands, showing three claws on either one. "Can she still play?"

"Of course you can, Dracomon. Just keep your score with some pebbles, or something like that."

"Yay! Dracomon gets to play! Let's do this!"

"Yeah! Let's do it, let's do it!" Mina cheered, already taking some of the cards. "Midori-kun! Pen me!"

Izuku again agreed, and Spadamon handed over another pen to her.

"Thank you~" she said. "How many of these do you even have, anyway?"

"Ah, well, I had two notebooks on me and three pens when we woke up on the island. I got some extras in the last town."

Kyouka looked over at him. "Why did you have two notebooks on you? Do you just carry those wherever you go?"

Izuku blushed a bit with a nervous chuckle. "W-Well, I just happened to have one of them in my pants' pockets; I guess I just forgot about it when I picked up the second one back at the camp. My phone was charging when that weird shape showed up in the sky, so I wanted to at least draw-... WAIT!!" Izuku suddenly stood up, "I REMEMBER! TH-THAT WEIRD LIGHT BACK AT CAMP!"

Saiko blinked. "What in blazes are you-" but then she froze up, as if a locked door had just swung wide open inside her brain. "Oh... my God, I remember it too! That did happen, didn't it!?"

Slowly but surely, it dawned on everyone.

"I-I remember too!" Itsuka said.

"It was really late... pretty much everyone was asleep, but... you were there!" Kyouka pointed at Camie.

"Like, she was there too! I saw her!" Camie said, pointing at Mina.

"I was just getting ready to go to sleep, but then..."

"Fire in the sky..." Yui added.

The Digimon blinked, looking confused. "Izuku, what's everyone talking about?" asked Spadamon.

"Back at the campsite, there was this... I don't even know what to call it; some kind of weather phenomenon, maybe! There were just these brilliant lights in the sky..."

"UFOs! That's what I thought!" Mina said.

"They started trailing in the shape of a circle, or multiple circles inside of a large one..." Saiko continued, "Just- just like that mural in Header Town! Yes... and then there was this enormous burst of multicolored lights! It was like... like..."

"Aurora borealis?" Camie suggested.

"Yes! Exactly like that!" Saiko said. "Which is preposterous! It is literally impossible for the Northern Lights to happen over Japan, and yet, I am positive that is what I saw!"

"We all did, it looks like." Kyouka added.

Itsuka's eyes widened, looking down at her vest. "The Digivices... they- they came down from the sky, right? It flew down, and just hovered in front of me... I grabbed it, and then..."

"Is... is that it, then?" Camie asked. "Is that how we got here? Because we were up too late!?"

Saiko just slumped down, sitting on the ground with her eyes wide. "I-...Impossible... there's... there's no way..."

"Aliens! I knew it! It had to be aliens!" Mina hissed. "We were abducted, and brought to this alien planet! That's why nothing makes sense here!"

Dracomon looked over at Itsuka with worry. "Itsuka... is everything OK...?"

The girl could hardly answer even if she wanted to assure her partner.

"So it's hopeless, then..." Kyouka growled. "No matter how much we walk, we'll never get home!"

"We're totally stuck here..." Camie curled up into herself, the others soon feeling the crushing weight of their current reality pressing down on them as well.

"We can't give up!" Izuku quickly said. "L-Look, I get it, things look bad now, but we were told things were bad already. And if what Babamon said about us being in another world was true, then what she said about there being ways back had to be too!"

Yui nodded. "The doorways. They must be out there..."

"And we'll be at your side until they are found." Labramon said. "Mark my words."

"Dracomon will help Itsuka no matter what it takes!" the dragon cheered.

Itsuka looked down at her, a smile returning back to her face. "Dracomon... thank you..."

"Cheer up, Mina-chan! You'll get through this, you'll see!"

"Raurau-chan..." Mina did sincerely appreciate her partner's optimism, even if she was having a bit of trouble matching it. Still she shook her head, and did her best to push aside this funk she'd gotten into. "Alright! Enough moping around! What better way to get back on track than by finally playing this game already!"

"Good idea, Mina-chan!" Camie agreed, quickly finishing up making a few more cards. "Alright everyone~! Write down some questions you're just, like, dying to ask everyone! And don't hold back on the real spicy ones~!" she giggled, handing off the pieces of paper around for everyone.

After a few minutes everyone had their cards ready and handed them back to Camie, who proceeded to shuffle all the pieces of paper.

"Alright, question number one~!" Camie sang before drawing the first paper. "Never have I ever... jaywalked on a busy street?" she blinked and pouted. "Like, what a lame question to start out with!"

Itsuka jolted a bit. I didn't really know what else to write... she quietly thought to herself.

"Whoopsie~!" Mina said, holding up a finger. "That's one point for me!"

"Same." Camie sighed as she held up one of her own. "Like, you just can't help it, right? Sometimes you're just in a hurry!" she huffed and quickly drew another card. "Alright, c'mon, let's get a better question next!" she looked at the card and a smile quickly came back to her face. "Ooooh, here we go~! Never have I ever... confessed to, or was confessed by a crush, either in person or through an anonymous letter~"

Mina's eyes immediately shone with devilishly curious delight, paying very close attention to how the others squirmed and blushed at the question.

Yui and Kyouka both remained stoic as they kept their hands down, and while Itsuka seemed a bit embarrassed she too kept her hand down. Shockingly, the first to nonchalantly put up her hand was Saiko.

And just like that, Mina sprung into action. "NO WAY! TELLI-SENPAI, FOR REAL!? DETAILS! I WANT 'EM! I NEED 'EM!"

This got Saiko to flinch in surprise. "Wh- Control yourself, woman! Th-There's nothing to tell! There was just this boy I fancied in middle school, that's all! So of course I said something; it'd be ridiculous to stew on such feelings without saying anything."

"And? And~? What did he say~!?"

Saiko just sighed. "He reciprocated-" Mina's shrill shriek got her to pause for a moment, "-but it didn't last for very long." Saiko immediately said to deflate Mina. "Father didn't approve, so I had to call it off. That was the first and last relationship I've been in, if you must know."

"Ehhh...? That's kinda sad." Camie said with a pout. "Like, you shouldn't have to break up with someone just because of that! My dad didn't approve of lots of guys, and that didn't stop me from dating them!"

"My father made some good points." Saiko just shrugged. "A relationship at that time would have only taken my attention away from my studies. I had to think about my future, not gallivant around on a relationship that, statistically speaking, would've never lasted. How many people do you actually know of who've stayed together with their junior high sweetheart, really?"

"Love's not about statistics, girl!" Camie said, "It's about throwing yourself with open arms, and seeing what happens! Even if it doesn't work out, that doesn't mean you can't still have fun!"

Saiko rolled her eyes and huffed. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not waste my time with strings of meaningless flings."

Camie pouted at that.

"Not very romantic, are we, Telli-senpai?" Mina asked, only getting another huff in response.

Alraumon then raised her hand. "Oh, I got this one too!"

"Ehh!? Really, Raurau-chan!?"

"Alraumon was always pretty popular in Dawn Village." Spadamon said.

"Yeah, but I always turned them down." Alraumon confessed. "I just haven't found anyone yet that's swept me off my feet."

"I hear that." Mina said with a sigh.

"I'm actually surprised you're not raising your hand, Ashido." Kyouka admitted. "You're not cheating, are you?"

"How dare you!" the pink girl feigned offense, "I'd never sully the honorable pact of the ten fingers game! I've just never really felt that way about anyone, and I guess nobody's felt that way about me either. Not even one measly letter; can you believe that?"

"That's so lame!" Camie pouted. "Like, you're adorable! How could someone not fall head over heels for you!"

"Heh, w-well, that may be true, but-"

"Like, if we were in the same school growing up, I would've totally confessed to you at some point, Mina-chan! I can promise you that!"

Mina immediately jolted, her face glowing a bright red. "W-W-W-What!?"

Suddenly a loud gasp for air was heard, Neemon doubling over as he coughed. "G-...Gwuh... It's like-...it's like my heart just got punched in its stomach...!"

"O-OK, anyone else!" Itsuka tried to divert the conversation back into the game. "P-Please say no..." she mumbled right after.

"..." Izuku was pouring sweat down his face, as he very gingerly raised his hand in hopes nobody would-

"Midoriya? Seriously!?"

Curses! he thought to himself when he heard Kyouka.

"No way! This I gotta hear!" Mina quickly jumped, completely discarding her earlier embarrassment in favor of her bottomless curiosity. "What was it!? Did someone confess? Did you confess!? Was it someone in our class!?"

"N-No, no! Not at all!" Izuku quickly waved his hands, "I-It was back at kindergarten! I-I was just four years old, I barely knew what a crush even was! B-But... I did... technically confess to someone, so..."

"Awwwww, that's sweet~!" Mina giggle. "Lil' baby Midowi's fiwst cwush! Who was the little missy that stole your heart~?"

"...mumble mumble..."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you~?"

"Mumble... mumble..."

"Midori-kun, by the law of the game, you must answer!"

"...i-it was... my teacher..."

Silence befell the campsite. Until Mina's uproarious laughter immediately shattered that silence into tiny pieces.

"BWAHAHAHAHAA! O-OH, THAT'S RICH! THAT'S RICH!! THAT'S THE CUTEST DAMN THING I'VE EVER HEARD!!"

"Aww, Izu-kun, that's adorable~!!" Camie cooed. "What a precocious lil' thing you were~!"

"Damn, you were aiming high right off the bat, huh?" Kyouka added with a teasing smirk.

"Scaling the highest mountain..." Yui stated.

Izuku groaned as his face threatened to explode into a red mist. He only prevented shrinking himself into a singularity because he noticed the oddly pointed stare that Neemon was giving him.

When the Digimon then gave him a thumbs up, Izuku kinda felt he should feel even worse.

With that mortifying experience out of the way, the game was allowed to continued.

"OK, next up is... oh, this writing's a bit hard to read, hang on..." Camie said as she tried to decipher the squiggles in front of her. "Never have I ever... eaten so much that I was full, but then ate more anyway?"

"Here, here!" Dracomon raised her hand. "Yay! One point for Dracomon! This game's easy!"

"D-Dracomon, did you write that question? The goal for this game is to not get points..." Itsuka explained.

"Eh? It is?" the little dragon just asked confused, the others unable to contain some good-natured chuckling.

"Alright, alright, there's gotta be harder questions somewhere in here!" Camie said as she drew another card. "Never have I ever... had my friends not tell me they were gonna meet up someplace, or did so to a friend. Oof."

"Not me." Mina quickly said. "On both accounts."

"Can't say I've gone through something like that." Itsuka said.

"Same here." Kyouka also said. "I was pretty close to my friends in middle school; they never did anything like that to me, or vice versa."

"No one would ever do something so mean-spirited at Dawn Village." Labramon huffed.

"Yeah! We told each other everything!" Candmon said with a hop.

"Hm..." Yui hummed, but silently raised her hand.

In the end, the only ones to raise their hands were Yui, Izuku and Saiko.

"Really, Kodai-san...?" Itsuka turned to her classmate with concern.

But Yui only shrugged her shoulders. "It happened... nothing else to say..."

"Hmph... well, I can't say I'm surprised with Midori-kun, at least." Mina huffed.

"H-Huh?"

"You don't talk much about your life prior to UA, but I think everyone can tell growing up with Bakugou couldn't have been a picnic." Kyouka stated, getting Izuku to jolt.

"W-Well... I-I won't say there's no truth to that... b-but it really wasn't that bad! Not... all the time, anyway..."

"Who's this Baku-guy? Was he at camp too?" Camie asked.

"Class 1-A's resident prodigy..."

"And resident butthole." Mina finished Kyouka's sentence for her. "Blonde guy. Shouts a lot about how much better he is than everyone else. Makes Mineta seem like actual good company."

"Ooh, I remember him!" Camie said. "Like, yeah, nah, I totally get it. I used to think he could look kinda cute, until he actually opened his mouth. Then it's, like, no way, no thank you! I've been told I have poor taste in men before, but even I'm not that blind to trouble!"

"K-Kacchan's really not that bad once you get to know him! Honest!" Izuku tried to step in.

"Why do you keep defending that butt?" Mina pouted. "The guy tried to maul you on the first day of class!"

"What!?" Spadamon jolted. "Izuku, just say the word! I'll teach that guy a lesson!

"H-He wasn't going to maul me! Don't listen to her, Spadamon! He was just taken by surprise over something, that's all, a-and acted a bit rashly!"

Kyouka's eyes narrowed with a cutting stare at Izuku, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

"Was it really that bad, Midoriya-san...?" Itsuka asked, obviously not being too privy to the inner-workings of her sister class.

"Uhm... well... only through elementary school!" he tried to assure them. "That's kinda when Kacchan and I... drifted apart, I guess, and stopped hanging out as much. Nothing like that ever happened again!"

"...because?" Kyouka's question cut sharp as a knife through Izuku's built up defenses.

"...b-because... I didn't really have friends through junior high..."

"Figures." Kyouka said.

"IZU-KUUUUUUUN!!" Camie cried out as she jumped up to her feet and threw herself at Izuku, grasping him in a tight embrace that took his breath right out of him; quite literally so, since Izuku's face was pressed right into a portion on Camie's anatomy that made it impossible for him to breath. "That's terrible! You must've been so lonely! Well, I'm making a promise: your Camie-senpai will make sure you always have a friend! Even if we go to different schools, we'll talk every single day!"

Izuku could only flail out of sheer terror as Camie threatened to choke him out before they even had the chance to exchange phone numbers.

"Utsushimi-kun, will you control yourself! You're practically killing him!" Saiko quickly came to his aid, but that only drew Camie's attention to her.

"Don't think I didn't forget about you!" Camie said, letting one arm leave Izuku to point at her, giving back his ability to breath, but still giving him several minor heart attacks because she still kept him right over her chest. "Saiko-chan, were your friends mean to you too!?"

The other girl jolted a bit, but maintained her composure. "I suppose it depends on how you look at things. I hesitated in even counting this because, as far as I'm concerned, such people were never my friends at all. When you're someone who gathers as much prestige as myself, you pick up many hangers-on; people who only get close to you on the off chance they can mooch off of your clout and success. In the best of scenarios, they simply don't care about you, and will dump you the moment you stop being 'useful' to them. In the worst, they simply grow jealous of your success, and try to blame their own failing on you. I've been on both sides of this; that's why I don't use the word 'friend' lightly."

"Intelli-san, I... didn't know..." Bakomon shrunk slightly as he looked up at his partner who'd clearly gone through so much.

"Geez, that's depressing..." Mina stated. "You must've had one real friend though, right?"

Saiko just dismissively shrugged. "Acquaintances, I had a few. But no one I'd really call a friend."

Camie stared at Saiko for a few seconds before she finally let go of Izuku. Standing back up to her feet, she held out her arms as she slowly approached the other girl.

Jolting, Saiko quickly started backing away. "S-Stay away from me, you she-devil! I don't need your pity!"

"You need a hug!"

"I most certainly do not need your hugs!"

"Why not? Like, why do you gotta be such an ice queen all the time? It won't keep you safe from getting hurt, you know?"

Saiko flinched at this. "W-What in blazes are you on about!? I'm not-

"G-Guys, let's settle down, OK?" Itsuka quickly tried to calm things down. "We're just playing a silly game, remember? There's no reason to get heated over it! Utsushimi-san, please sit down, alright?"

Camie kept her eyes on Saiko as she pouted, but then simply turned around and went back to her sleeping bag, albeit under protest. Saiko let out a sigh of relief, and took her seat again on the rock she was using as a stool.

Itsuka sighed now that the situation was defused, and took the cards herself. Please give me an easier question... she pleaded to the gods of luck as she drew another one. "Never have I ever... developed a crush on a fellow party member, say perhaps, a handsome yellow-furred Digimon with a unique style and a wicked sense of humor...?"

"..."

Everyone turned their heads to stare at Neemon.

"What? Can't blame a guy for tryin'!" he said, much to amusement of the others.

Only Bakomon fidgeted a bit in his seat, wondering if the second half of that question was enough to negate the first one as he sneaked a glance over at the captivating purple flower.

"Let me do next!" Mina called, taking the cards off of Itsuka's hands. "Geez, c'mon, where are all of my cards! That's where all the good questions are!" she shuffled the deck to better the odds, before drawing the next card. "Never have I ever had to step between someone I loved, and someone who was trying to hurt them! Ah, that's a point for me, I guess." she said, raising a finger. "I used to stick my nose in whenever I saw someone getting bullied, and that included a few friends of mine."

"Yeah, same here." Kyouka raised her hand. "Me and my friends stuck out back an middle school due our tastes in music and fashion, and one time some girls started heckling one of them; I don't know if they really planned on hurting them though, just a lot of spineless name calling. When I stood up to them, they crumbled pretty quick."

Spadamon let out a huff as he raised his hand. "I'll take this loss with pride for all the times I've protected Izuku!"

"Same here!" Alraumon giggled. "I'd protect Mina-chan any day of the week!"

"I agree." Labramon said as he also raised his hand, followed by all the other Digimon as they all had to step in to protect their cherished partners.

"This question's cheating!" Neemon grumbled, his cheeks a bit flushed as he had to raise his hand.

"Aw shucks, I'm flattered, Neemon." Kyouka teased, Neemon only grumbling in return.

"Guess I lose too." Izuku said as he raised his hand. "I'm... starting to lose count on how often this happens, to be honest..." he said with an awkward chuckle.

"That's Midori-kun; genetically predisposed to saving people!" Mina giggled. "It'd probably be easier to count the times you didn't step up to protect someone else!"

"C-Come on, I wouldn't go that far! It just happens!"

As they laughed, Camie noticed Itsuka very gingerly and sneakily raise another finger. "Oh! Itsuka-chan, you too?"

The other girl flinched, as she meekly said "Y-Yes", silently cursing that she wasn't able to escape with this.

"I bet Kendou-chan stood up to bullies all the time!" Mina giggled, but the other girl on fidgeted nervously.

"Yeah, yeah! That's just like Itsuka!" cheered Dracomon.

"It's... it's not..."

"C'mon, Kendou-chan! Spill those beans!"

"Itsuka! Come on, say it!"

"I-I-...I can't..."

"It's the rules of the game! Spill 'em!"

"Say it! Say it!"

"I CAN'T!"

Itsuka's shout quickly brought a heavy silence to the camp, the girl's body trembling slightly as her hands clenched into tight fists.

Dracomon cowered slightly, seeing her partner's reaction. "Itsuka..."

Seeing this, even Mina seemed to realize she pressed on a button she shouldn't have. "G-Geez, sorry, Kendou-chan... I didn't mean to-"

"The fish!" Itsuka quickly faced the fire, hoping to just divert away from the conversation as quickly as possible. "Ah, i-it's fine, Ashido-san! Y-You were right all along; I've had to step up to some bullies in the past, that's all! Now, the fish is ready, so let's all eat! Come, Dracomon, you said you were really hungry, right? You get the first piece!"

Izuku couldn't help but have a concerned look on his face, and Kyouka also kept her eyes focused on the other girl who was so blatantly just trying to escape talking about something.

"OK! No point stopping now, right?" Camie quickly got things back on track, taking the cards again to draw another one. "Never have I ever- oh, ew! Made a mess before I reach the bathroom? Like, no way! Gross!"

"Did you really have to draw that question when we're about to eat..." Kyouka stated with a grossed out look on her face.

"Oh! Oh! That one's mine!" Candmon jumped up. "Hwah ha! I have impeccable toilet training! Ever since I was a baby, I never did my stuff where I wasn't supposed to! Isn't that right, guys? Back me up!"

Mina kinda snickered, but quickly waved her hand. "Me neither! I guess maybe when I was a toddler, but even then, I can't remember."

Dracomon then raised her hand. "Dracomon can't help it! Sometimes the poop just comes out! Like one time, Dracomon was-"

"Please spare us the details." Neemon flatly stated, which Kyouka agreed. "Besides, I was there for most of those instances; the last thing I need is to be reminded of them."

"All of us were..." Bakomon said, shuddering as the memories threatened to invade his brain.

"Alright, let's just find something less gross, OK?" Camie was willing to move on, and so was everyone else. "Never have I ever cried on my own birthday."

"Do tears of joy count?" wondered Izuku. "I tended to cry a lot whenever I got my presents. My mom always knew exactly what I wanted."

"That's a good question. What do you think, Judge Mina-chan?"

Mina hummed in heavy consideration. "I'll let Midori-kun off the hook; seems obvious to me the intent of the question is tears of sadness, or just crankiness."

Kyouka raised her hand. "It wasn't because I was being a brat or anything; I just remember being three and running around the house and going right into one of my mom's bass guitars. It landed right on top of me, so of course I was going to cry."

Camie raised her hand as well. "Like, there was this Pretty Yure toy I super-super wanted back in the day, but didn't get it. It's silly to look back on it now, but hey, I was only nine! I raised quite a bit of hell that day for my mom. Eugh, now I just wanna apologize to her..."

Saiko seemed to muse on the question for a bit, but she too raised her hand in the end. "I guess I'm on similar circumstances to Utsushimi-kun."

"What, did baby Intelli-chan not get a pony for her birthday, and had to make due with ten purebred puppies instead?" Mina teasingly giggled.

The other girl's eye twitched but she retained her composure. "Spare me, I've heard all those jokes before. If you must know, I was six years old and I had just been introduced to the existence of virtual pets by some girls at my class. I begged my parents to get me one, but father disapproved, and expressly forbade me from getting one for my birthday. I guess my mother took that literally, and so she bought it for me a few days before." Saiko couldn't hold back a light chuckle as she thought about her mother's clever bend of the rules. "It became our little secret, but when I tried to show it off to some of the girls at my party, my father found me out. He was furious and grabbed the toy out of my hand, before smashing it against the wall."

"That's terrible!" Mina gasped. "Who does that to their own kid!?"

"Your dad sounds like a real jerk, Saiko-chan!" Camie added.

Saiko flinched slightly. "L-Look, father may be strict, I'll admit to that, but he's always had the best intentions in mind! He knew how distracting such trifles could be, and didn't want my studies to suffer over some silly little knick-knack!"

"Still, it sounds like a serious overreaction for a toy..." Itsuka said.

"Mmh-hm..." Yui nodded in agreement.

"W-Well, it's in the past, so who cares." Saiko tried to defend her father's honor. "It was never an issue after that; all of my presents were pedagogic in nature, and I was and still am quite thankful for it! I would have never reached the heights I've had today had it not been for my father keeping me from such frivolous things."

"You expect me to believe that?" Camie said with a pout. "Come on, there's, like, no way! You must've wanted something else growing up!"

Saiko just huffed. "Don't try and shove your bad habits onto me! You all may picture me as some spoiled child born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but that just shows you know nothing of me! I had one moment of weakness in my youth, but beyond that, I was a well-behaved child who accepted that my parents knew best! I didn't throw a tantrum just because I didn't get some silly toy from some vapid television show, nor did I demand anything more than what I was given!"

"What about the teddy bear?" Candmon asked with a blink of his eyes.

"..." Saiko didn't answer, just stiffly turning her head to the candle. "Come again...?"

"Yeah, when that Dreammon jerk started yammering forever about stuff we wanted! You were talking about a teddy bear, right?"

"F-Fine, I had two moments of weakness! Happy!? I wanted a teddy bear and didn't get one; end of story!" Saiko huffed, turning away from the rest of the group. "Why am I even entertaining this ridiculous game anyway!? Let's just eat our dinner and get to sleep already! We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow!" she argued before angrily munching down on her food.

Bakomon stared at his partner with a worried look on his face, something Izuku noticed.

Though they were down one member, the game did continue for a little while longer as dinner progressed. But eventually they had to get to sleep, and prepare for the journey ahead...

Sandypond Town was a lively location filled with Digimon, reminding the humans of a lot of smaller towns back in Japan. The homes were humble, rarely growing taller than just one floor, and everyone seemed to greet one another with a smile on their face, even those that drove past on their three-wheeler mini trucks. With their plan laid out, the Chosen all split into smaller groups as they sought someplace that would accept their temporary employment.

Camie, Mina and Yui, along with their Digimon, made up one group, looking out for any possible avenue to make money from.

"This'll never work!" whined Mina. "Who in their right mind would just hire a bunch of strangers — lovely though they may be — just off the street? We'd be better off just begging on the side of the road!"

"Mina-chan, you need to think positive!" Camie said with a smile. "Half of this stuff is all about looking confident! If you act like you own the place, then people will treat you like you do!"

"Act like we own the place, huh?" Candmon said, sounding very interested. He puffed out his chest, his hopping gaining a more confident stride as he shouted at a bunch of Digimon: "Oi, oi, OI! Outta the way! I run this town, y'hear me!?"

"Not like that, Cand-kun!" Camie quickly tried to calm him down, and apologize to the confused bystanders. "That's not being confident; that's just being mean! Only Villains do that!"

"Eh!? Really? I don't wanna act like a Villain!"

"It's OK..." Yui assured him with a friendly pat on the head, which served to calm down the candle.

"Then, how do you act confident, Camie?" Labramon asked his partner, and she hummed in thought.

"Ah-! Perfect!" she clapped her hands when she spotted a diner down the street. "Just follow my lead, you'll see! It's easy!"

With a giggle, Camie headed off with the others in tow. The diner sat right at the end of town, a simple building from the outside in the center of a wide open space, with only a big lightning bolt sign to draw attention to it. Marching straight into the diner, a rather simple but inviting little restaurant with an almost throwback 50's aesthetic full of checkerboard patterns and neon, which was completely empty at this hour, Camie rang up the bell and waited for-

"CUSTOMERS!" a man immediately zoomed into view, striking a dramatic pose as he shouted. He resembled a human — a Pro Hero, even — being dressed in a white and blue costume complete with a scarf, two bright yellow dots over his chest; the blue gloves on his arms also extended backwards with a lightning-shape; the helmet he wore covered the top of his head and chin, and it extended far behind him long, swept-back spikes; he was also somehow wearing what seemed to be ice skates atop a normal linoleum floor.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Rinkmon

Level IV

Type: Cyborg

Attribute: Harmonious

A Digimon with keen eyesight and outstanding reflexes. It is said that there are very few Digimon that can rival its speed and grace. Its special move is called Spinning Cutter, as he attacks with the lightning-shaped blades on his arms.

---

"My most sincere apologies for my tardiness! I took 0.013 seconds to respond to the ring of the bell! UNFORGIVABLE! I MUST DO FIFTY PUSHUPS TO REPENT FOR THIS GRIEVOUS ERROR! HA!" he immediately threw himself to the floor, performing his pushups with unparalleled vigor as he counted incredibly fast.

"...I think we just found Iidamon." Mina chuckled.

Once he'd reached fifty pushups in less than ten seconds, he jumped back to his feet as he struck another dramatic pose. "Now! I welcome you wholeheartedly to Rinkmon's Blink Eats, the diner where we serve your food in the blink of an eye! How may I, Rinkmon himself, serve you on this day!"

"Oh, we're not customers, actually! We're, like, flat broke!" Camie cheerfully and brutally killed all of Rinkmon's excitement.

"A-Aaawwhh... I can't believe I had the audacity to just assume so carelessly! You come to me, Rinkmon, hungry and destitute in your hour of need, and all I can think about is money! The SHAME! I MUST REPENT THROUGH ONE HUNDRED SIT UPS! HA!" he immediately threw himself to the floor once again. "Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnine-"

"Excuse me~!" Camie interrupted him, peering over the counter still with a bright smile on her face. "We're, like, not here to beg or anything! We're actually here to get a job!"

"...a job?" Rinkmon blinked, before jumping back to his feet.

"Mmhm~!" Camie nodded. "Surely you've got need for a pair of lovely waitresses for your restaurant, right~?"

Rinkmon rubbed his chin in thought. "Well... I could definitely do with the help, I will not deny that. But the problem is..." he motioned at the empty diner, "As you can see, Rinkmon's Blink Eats, Rinkmon's diner, hasn't been doing so well since I, Rinkmon, opened it."

"Well, I wasn't gonna say anything, but..." Mina looked around, "It's almost lunch time, right? So why's nobody here? This seems like a really cool place!"

"The answer to such a questions escapes even I, Rinkmon!" the Digimon sigh in despair. "I moved here to Sandypond with a dream of opening up my own diner, thinking that I, Rinkmon, could carve out a niche for myself by bringing the big city dining experience into a small town! But perhaps the dishes that I, Rinkmon, brought from the city are much too exotic for this town! I opened my diner, Rinkmon's diner, five days ago, and not one costumer has come by! So, I'm afraid that I, Rinkmon, must apologize; it's not that I don't appreciate the help, but I, Rinkmon, can hardly afford employees for a diner with no costumers."

"Aww... well, that makes sense." Mina said, disappointed. "Guess we'll just have to try elsewhere."

"Now, hold on, not so fast!" Camie stopped her as she prepared to leave. "We can't just leave Rink-san after hearing this, can we?"

"Hey, I'd like to help, but I don't know anything about restaurants."

"Mmh..." Yui echoed.

Camie pouted slightly since she didn't exactly know much about what made a restaurant successful either. "Well, like, how hard can it be! As long as the food's tasty, then that should be enough, right?"

"I, Rinkmon, will personally vouch for the tastiness of my food!" Rinkmon proudly stated.

"Well, you say that, but wouldn't everyone say that about their cooking?" Labramon said. "You said you haven't had a single customer, so how can you know your food is actually any good?"

"...EGADS, YOU'RE RIGHT!" Rinkmon immediately realized. "THE SHAME! TO BE SO BLINDED BY MY OWN HUBRIS! I MUST REPENT WITH-"

"Hoooold your horses, mister!" Camie stopped him from going any further. "Let's stay focused, OK? How about we serve as your test audience! That way, we can give you pointers on if anything needs to be touched up!"

"Splendid idea!" Rinkmon agreed. "If you would be so kind to do me, Rinkmon, such a favor, then I shall not disappoint! I shall pour all of my heart into my cooking to prove to you that I, Rinkmon, have the best menu in town! TALLY HO!" he immediately rushed into the kitchen to begin whipping up a frenzy.

Mina took her seat by the counter along with the others. "Well, we didn't get a job, but it looks like we're getting a free meal at least!"

"I was starting to get really hungry, so good or not, I'm gonna enjoy this!" Alraumon cheered.

"Yeah! Yeah! I'm gonna stuff my face!" Candmon said, already banging his fork and knife on the counter.

"Don't forget we're trying to help this poor man." Labramon was the voice of reason. "We're not trying to take advantage of his situation just to get free food."

"Fiiiiiine..." they all said with a pout.

After a shockingly low time waiting-

"IT IS COMPLETED!" Rinkmon dashed out of the kitchen with six dishes in his arms, expertly sliding them before his not-quite-customers. "For your consideration, I, Rinkmon, bring you my specialty choucroute garnier; with three different kinds of sausage, salted ham hocks and fish, accompanied by cabbage heated in fat, black pepper, onions, junior berries, and baked potatoes!"

"Woooaaaahh! This looks delicious!" Mina already felt her mouth watering as she gazed upon the steaming food set before her.

"It looks and smells wonderful already!" Alraumon clapped her hands together. "Thanks for the meal!"

"Thank you for the meal!" the others repeated as they dug right into their meal.

From the first bite they could tell... there was absolutely nothing wrong with the food!

"Delishioush!!" Mina squealed with joy.

"This is the best food I've ever eaten in my whole life!" Alraumon's eyes were practically sparkling with the magic of the food she was eating.

"I must agree, this is incredible." Labramon nodded.

"Yeah! Holy cow! This is great! I want seconds! No, thirds! No, fourths!" Candmon was literally bouncing in his seat as he chowed down.

"Mhmhm!" Yui nodded in approval as well.

"Rink-san, you could, like, sell this at any fancy restaurant and make a killing!" Camie said.

Rinkmon had tears streaming down his face at the praise his cooking was getting. "Thank you! I, Rinkmon, am not worthy of such words of praise, yet thank you nonetheless!" but his joy deflated slightly as the reality of the situation came back to him. "Unfortunately, this means nothing unless I, Rinkmon, can bring in more customers to eat it..."

"Hmm... well, we can safely say the food isn't the problem." Camie stated. "I'm sure if people just gave your restaurant a chance, they'd be coming back for more, and then some! So, the question now is, like, why's nobody coming here?"

"Maybe it's the location?" Mina wondered. "I mean, it's pretty outside of town, right? There weren't that many people out in the street, and even getting here was a bit awkward since the sidewalk ends a few buildings back."

"You are most certainly right. Augh! I can't believe that I, Rinkmon, was so foolish as to ignore something as basic as location! I MUST PUNISH MYSELF WITH THREE HUNDRED SQUAT THRUSTS! Onetwothreefourfivesix-!"

As she munched on her food, Yui glanced out of the windows of the diner, seeing the road that lead out of town as the various trucks that passed by. "Drivers..."

Camie blinked, looking over the same direction, and slowly pieced together what Yui was getting at. "Rink-san? Is all of that terrain in front and beside your diner yours?"

Ninetysixninetysevenninetyeigh- huh?" the Digimon blinked and stopped his punishment. "Ah, yes, it's all mine. Frankly, I, Rinkmon, have been at a bit of a loss as to what to do with that much space. I thought that I, Rinkmon, could maybe someday expend the restaurant, but the way things are going..."

Camie had to think about for a few seconds longer, before she finally snapped her fingers. "That's it, then! I know what the problem is!" she looked back at him, "You're just not targeting the right audience!"

Rinkmon blinked in confusion, along with Mina, Alraumon, Candmon and Labramon.

"When you look out the window, what do you see?"

Looking past his generous helpers, Rinkmon took a moment. "Not much, I'm afraid..."

"There's just a lot of truckers coming in and out of town, it looks like." Alraumon added.

"Pre-ci-sely~!" Camie sang. "Nobody's walking past your restaurant, but there's plenty of people driving past it! What you need to do is get those people to stop their driving, and start their eating!"

"Ah-! I see! Of course! It makes perfect sense!" shouted Rinkmon. "To think that I, Rinkmon, have been ignoring such an obvious solution when it was literally staring me right in the face! I MUST PUNISH-ah, wait... but how would I even get them to do that?"

"We could get a few more signs up!" Mina suggested. "Something really eye-popping! Something that'll let everyone know 'hey, there's a great place for grub here!'"

Camie nodded, but was still in thought. "That's a good idea, but it's not enough. If the promise of food was all we needed, we wouldn't even be in this situation. No, we need to give people a reason to actually stop their vehicles; if we can do that, then they'll have to at least step inside just for curiosity's sake!"

Everyone took the moment to think (except Candmon who was still focused on his meal), until Camie sighed.

"I got nothing..." she looked beside her at the quiet Yui. "Yui-chan, do you have anything in mind?"

Yui didn't show it in her face, but she had been thinking about this as she kept looking out the window, and all the dirty trucks that ran by. So when she turned to Camie, her answer was clear.

"We stick to what we know..."

Elsewhere in Sandypond, Itsuka and Kyouka had elected for a more straightforward approach in job-hunting, and found a noticeboard filled with opportunities.

With plenty to choose from, they ended up selecting to help out a bookstore that was doing inventory, and restructuring its layout that needed a few hands to help count up all of their stock, and shift some heavy burdens around. For Itsuka and Kyouka this seemed perfect; a simple job that, while a little boring, would pay quite well and not burn into their stamina too badly.

"A little to the left... a little to the left..." Neemon said, as Itsuka and Kyouka managed to carry around a decently-big shelf.

"You've been saying that for the last five minutes; any more to the left, and we'll just turn ourselves around!" Kyouka argued as she looked past the bookshelf... only to find Neemon not even looking at them, and having his face buried in some book.

"Yeah, you're doing great, just remember to pivot, and if that don't work, just pivot some mo-OOAAAAYYEEEE!!" he immediately got stabbed in the neck with Kyouka's ear plug for his lack of trouble.

"Jirou-san, I think over here should be fine." Itsuka said as she nodded towards an empty space by a support beam. Kyouka agreed, if only to just finally put this big chunk of wood down, so they carefully set the shelf in its new place.

"My, my, you girls have been working so hard, I can't possibly thank you enough!" the bookstore owner said as he approached, a fuzzy orange cat with black stripes and white fure underneath him; his ears and tail were quite large, as were his green gem-like eyes, and he had two large feelers that extended from a fuzzy fur collar.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Meicoomon

Level IV

Type: Beast

Attribute: Moral

A feline Digimon well-known for its large tail and overall cuteness. Though it looks small, it is deceptively strong in a fight, capable of taking on Digimon much larger than it is. It scratches at any would-be opponents with its large claws hidden in its fur! X Scratch!

---

"It's really no problem, Bookstore-san." Itsuka assured him.

"Well, lucky for you, that is the last of the moving to be done. Once you finish sorting out the books for this section, you've more than earned your break!" Meicoomon said before he left to another side of the bookstore.

Kyouka let out a breath as she could finally sit down and work on the easier part of this assignment, since all they had to do was put books on shelves. She quickly began gathering up the books in their right order, sparing a glance at the covers every now and then. "This 'Brave Little Poop' series sure goes places. He becomes president of the moon in this book."

"I-I guess it's a children's book series?" Itsuka wondered, just given what few context clues she had.

"Itsuka! Itsuka! Do you think Dracomon can take this one? Do you?" the little green excitedly bounced on her feet as she held up a small picture book called The Four Dragons Sleeping In The Sky.

"Tell you what; I'll buy it for you once we're done here, OK? We should have enough money."

"Yay! Yay! Itsuka's the best! The best!" Dracomon bounced over to the other Digimon. "Hey, hey Neemon! Did you hear? Itsuka's gonna buy Dracomon this book! Isn't that great! Neemon can read it too if he wants! Dracomon will lend it!"

"Psheh! That's cute and all, but I've got better books to pass my time with. That's much too childish for one with my literary palate."

"Eh? It's not childish; it's pretty!" Dracomon pouted at how quickly Neemon dismissed her. "What's so much better about Neemon's books than Dracomon's? They don't even have pictures!"

"Hmph! You're much too young still to understand the complex narrative and deeper meaning of the Disco-Detective MirrorBallmon! A hard boiled detective who solves crimes with a funky step, and a cool demeanor whether out on the streets, or out on the dance floor!" Neemon explained as he held up the book. "The latest volume just came out, and it tells the tale of a young wife who recently found herself widowed under mysterious circumstances, only to turn around and go to work under her husband's former boss, with sexy results! As MirrorBallmon investigates, he suddenly finds himself embroiled in a secret conspiracy, attacked at all side by assassins, hired guns, and ninjas, with sexy results!"

"That sounds really lame."

"It's not lame! It's exciting and layered!"

"All Dracomon hears is 'lame, lame, lame, lame!'"

"This is why you don't discuss art with philistines!"

"Laaaaaaame!"

"Your face is lame!"

As the two Digimon continued their literary analysis, Itsuka and Kyouka remained focus on actually doing their job. Although Itsuka couldn't help but notice how the other girl kept shooting a few glances her way, as if she wasn't sure whether she should say anything.

"Is there something on your mind, Jirou-san?" Itsuka decided to just get that out of the way, asking gently.

Kyouka frowned a bit at her lack of stealth, but since it was out there- "Well, kinda... It's about yesterday. I guess I just wanted to apologize on Ashido's behalf; she didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, that girl just doesn't know when to quit sometimes."

Itsuka had kinda suspected that might have something to do with it, so she just smiled at Kyouka. "Like I said, it's OK! Really! I get that she was just curious. I'm not mad or anything."

"Maybe, but... your smile still looks kinda forced."

The orange-haired girl jolted this time, being the one to curse herself at her own lack of subtlety. "Y-Yes... well... let's just say the conversation brought back some less than fond memories, that's all. It's really not Ashido-san's fault; it just left me in a bit of a downer mood, that's all. But I'll get through it! It's all in the past anyway!"

Kyouka kept a carefully neutral expression on her face. "Alright. I won't force you to talk about something you don't want to talk about. But, hey." she added, holding up her ear chords for emphasis, "If you ever need to talk. I know we're not in the same class, but I'm willing to listen. I'm pretty good at that. So I've been told, anyway."

Itsuka faced her with a much more natural smile. "Thank you, Jirou-san. I'll be sure to remember that offer."

With that, the two girls went back to their work, although Itsuka's mind kept jumping from thought to thought as she considered Kyouka's words.

Stop it!

She didn't want to be a bother to anyone. Even if Kyouka had offered, that didn't mean Itsuka should just dump whatever she felt like on the girl.

Stop it! Please!

This was something she'd handled by herself up until now, and there was no reason to change that.

Stop hurting my mommy!

Itsuka lightly shook her head and took in a deep breath, focusing back on the matter at hand. Although that became a bit harder as the sound of revving engines and honking horns started to grow increasingly louder. Both Itsuka and Kyouka looked out the window, seeing a long line of mini trucks practically parked just outside the store.

"Oh dear, did something happened outside?" Meicoomon said as he too noticed the commotion coming from outside. He stepped up to the front door and peered outside, wondering if maybe there had been an accident, but all he saw was the lengthy line of vehicles leading towards- "That's that new restaurant, right? Is something happening there, I wonder..."

Saiko finished tallying up the groceries for the small rabbit/dog-like creature. "That will be ten dollars and thirty three cents."

"Keep the change." the Terriermon said as she placed down exactly ten dollars and thirty three cents, exiting the store with her groceries and a laid back "have a nice day"

Saiko just stared a bit, since that wasn't the first time that had happened today. Maybe it was some strange custom in this land, who knew. Needless to say, the great Intelli Saiko had never once thought of herself working at a simple grocery store, but she wasn't so prideful that she wasn't going to do the best job she possibly could at it. This was a challenge just like any other, and she would persevere until the very end!

"Excuse me! Excuse me, miss!" a rather shrill voice called out to her as a strange-looking Digimon approached. Her shape was like that of a black eggplant, dressed an apron and pink clothes that kind of resembled an open wallet, her face being a pair of lips and a large heart that Saiko could only assume was her eye.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Kakeimon

Level III

Type: Mutant

Attribute: Moral

A Mutant-type Digimon that is always on the lookout for the cheapest of bargains! It is an expert haggler that can bring down the price of any item down at the local market. Its Saving Heart ensures its money remains safe in its wallet from anyone trying to swindle her!

---

"Yes, ma'am, how may I help you?" Saiko asked.

"I was looking through your selection of bagged radishes and I came across this most dreadful of discovery!" she held up the bagged radishes. "What sort of establishment are you running here!?"

Saiko blinked, not really finding anything out of the usual. "My apologies ma'am, but what seems to be the trouble, exactly?"

"Is it not obvious!?" Kakeimon huffed. "Look! This expiration date is clearly upside down! None of the other bagged radishes had this, but this one does! Am I supposed to just take this standing down!?"

"...I'm sorry ma'am, but I don't see the issue here."

"You don't-!" the woman gasped. "Just think for one minute! If the producers of this brand were so negligent as to let this slip by, what else may have gone under their noses! For all I know, these radishes could be poisoned! This should at least come with a discount, as collateral for the enormous risk I am taking in buying such shoddy products!"

Saiko could only stare at the weird eggplant monster with an expressionless face. "If you're that concerned, why not just take a bag with the expiration date right-side up?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...you are a shrewd one." Kakeimon admitted as she put the radishes back in her basket. "We shall meet again on this hallowed ground!" and sped off to resume her shopping without any further incident.

What just happened...? Saiko wondered to herself, but quickly sighed. "Bakomon, come here for a second."

"Yes, Intelli-san!" the box Digimon stopped his sweeping of the store floor and approached the counter.

"Did you restock the potato crisps aisle?"

"Ah, well, I would have, but... the crisps haven't arrived yet."

Saiko blink. "They what? They were supposed to arrive an hour ago!"

"I waited outside for the delivery truck, but I didn't see any."

A huff left the girl. "Well, that's just great. We're stuck without crisps because of their sluggishness! We could lose out on a lot of profit, you know!"

"Do you want me to go see if the truck's coming?"

"No, that's alright. We'll give them ten more minutes, otherwise I'm calling the company directly myself!" she huffed again.

"We're back!"

Izuku and Spadamon reentered the grocery store, rolling their aching shoulders from the baskets they carried on their backs.

"Phew! It's wild out there!"

Saiko blinked at Izuku's statement. "Why? What's going on?"

"There's just a huge line of cars in the middle of the town!" Spadamon explained. "It's got a whole section of the town just completely frozen!"

This got a frown from Saiko. "I guess that explains why our elusive crisps haven't arrived..."

"Are there any more deliveries we have to do?" asked Izuku.

"No, not for the moment. You two go ahead and rest; Bakomon and I can handle the front for now." she watched as both Izuku and Spadamon relaxed from their busy day delivering groceries directly to peoples' homes. "Utterly incredible... you know, most people would think two broken arms to be a perfectly good excuse to skip out on work."

Izuku chuckled a bit awkwardly. "T-Technically, only my right arm is broken!" he said, as if that made everything better. "But, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing while everyone worked hard, right? And delivery only needs me to use my legs, so I'm not breaking doctor's orders!"

This earned a light amused snort from Saiko. "Do you train as hard on your excuses to get out of hard work as you do your body, Midoriya-kun?"

"Actually, I find them to come quite naturally for me!" Izuku chuckled again.

Thankfully for him, Saiko also chuckled. It was an oddly rare thing for her to do, and he liked to hear it. "I admire that drive, I must admit. In that way, we aren't so different. There have been moments in my life where I've worked through terrible illness or a bothersome injury, not wishing to be left behind in my studies or club activities. I suppose that's the curse when you set out to be the very best; it becomes extremely difficult to turn it off, even when you logically know you should."

"That's the truth..." Izuku admitted, walking behind the counter and taking a seat at a stool there. "Back when I was a kid, there was nothing I wanted more than to be like All Might. I felt like everything I ever did had to be put in favor of achieving that goal. Anything else was just taking away time from seeing my dream come true."

"You and father could certainly have a friendly conversation, it sounds like." Saiko chuckled again.

"How about you, Intelli-san?" he asked. "What made you want to become a Hero?"

She blinked, a bit taken by surprise, but she did actually think about it for a moment. "Well... I can't quite say we followed the same path to our current objective. Truth be told, when I was a child, I wasn't that enamored with Heroes."

"Eh? Really? That's surprising. Nowadays, almost every kid is at least a fan."

"True, but I've never been like most people." she said with a somewhat cheeky smirk. "...my father didn't like Heroes very much. I guess I must've inherited it from him. I didn't hate them or anything, I just never found myself all that drawn to the profession. It's a bit embarrassing to say, but... well... my first dream was to become an idol." she admitted with a blush on her face. "Augh! Why am I even admitting this to you!? It's so ridiculous!"

Izuku flinched but chuckled a bit. "I-I don't think it's ridiculous! Everyone wants something, and that's never ridiculous! I think an idol career is a perfectly respectable thing to go for!"

Saiko still groaned, her face mildly pink from the nerves.

"So... what made you change your mind?"

This got the girl to frown a bit. "Well... father did." she admitted. "He said that such a career was beneath us Intelli, and that I should aspire for something greater..."

Izuku didn't say anything, but the look on his face showed a bit of concern.

"I know what you're going to say!" Saiko quickly stepped in before he could say something. "Once again, my father sounds like some sort of authoritative monster depriving me of everything I want, but that is not the case! He was just being realistic!"

"I-I wasn't going to say anything..."

Saiko huffed, though not because she was angry; more just to calm herself. "I was left a bit aimless after that for a while. I had to let go of one dream, but it wasn't so easy to find something else to replace it. Then one day, on my sixth birthday, my mother took me to the city. We headed towards a park, and were only supposed to rest our legs for a bit... but then, there was a Villain attack. I'd only ever caught glimpses of them on television, but actually experiencing one... I was confused, and utterly terrified."

"I know what you mean..." Izuku nodded, "I was caught up in a Villain attack when I was a kid too, so I know how scary that can be. Even with Heroes there, it isn't always as glamorous as the highlight reels make it out to be."

Saiko nodded in agreement. "I remember clinging to my mother as hard as I could, but... there was just so much chaos, people running, explosions and fire going off... somewhere in the panic, I got separated from her. For the first time in my life, I felt so... alone. I must've attracted the attention of the Villain when I started to cry; I saw him approach, and it was the most terrifying thing I've thankfully ever had to witness so far... and then a Hero showed up in front of me. He took the Villain's attack just to protect me, and even despite that, he still smiled at me and asked me if I was hurt. He just spoke with such warmth, keeping me company even as the Villain kept trying to kill him. Back then, I simply couldn't understand it; what drove a man to act so calmly even in the face of danger like that... just to keep a little girl from being scared." she took in a short breath. "Eventually, I came to realize it... the answer was so simple, it was almost comical: that's simply what Heroes do. When it dawned on me, I knew that that was the kind of person I wished to be. Someone who saved others, and made sure they never had to feel alone. I knew I wanted to be a Hero, even if it meant disappointing father."

Izuku smiled at the story, certainly being able to relate to a lot of what Saiko was saying.

"And just to prove to you that my father is a reasonable man: he did not stand in my way!" she said with a bit of smug pride that she could properly defend her father. "He understood my decision, and pushed me to strive ever greater in my quest! If I were to become a Hero, then I would do as all Intellis do, and become the best at what I aimed for! I would not settle for a mere number two! I would challenge All Might himself if it meant reaching number one!"

Izuku chuckled. "That's great, Intelli-san! I guess at the end of the day, we're going to be rivals for that spot!"

Saiko let out an amused and rather smug chuckle of her own. "You're more than welcome to try and keep up, Midoriya-kun~" but she then just chuckled more naturally, clearly in good spirits.

"Hey, so, about that Hero..." Izuku couldn't help but ask, "Who was he anyway?"

"You know, it's the darndest thing? I never found out!" Saiko admitted. "I searched Hero listings for months, trawled through fan websites and videos, but I never found his identity, nor the female Hero battling alongside him, though I never got a good look at her. All I know is, he was dressed in a big stuffed bear costume, bright yellow with big red eyes. Beyond that, I never discovered a single thing. Ultimately I just assumed they may have been Vigilantes, or simply foreign Heroes to explain away the lack of official documents, but even then, you would expect there to be something, right?"

"Huh... yeah, I know what you mean." Izuku pondered for a moment. "I've never heard of a Hero dressed like a stuffed teddy bear either... come to think of it, we also share that in common. I was saved by a woman with a spider Quirk when I got caught in a Villain attack. Never found out who she was either."

Saiko hummed. "Once, I thought I may have made a breakthrough. It happened only a few weeks after the event itself, and I was walking past a toy store with my father. I saw a bear on the window that, to my young mind at least, looked almost exactly like the Hero who saved me. I think I realized quickly it wasn't the same, but... well, part of me still wanted that bear to remember the man who saved my life." she sighed, deflating a little as she was once again forced to admit: "But... father wouldn't have it. This was long before I'd reached the conclusion I wanted to be a Hero, and I couldn't exactly articulate my feelings on why owning that bear was so important to me... so he just wasn't interested in spending money on such a frivolous thing. Eventually, much like my Hero, the bear would also disappear for good." she sighed.

The boy frowned slightly at how the story ended, but before he could say anything-

Brrrring! Brrrrring!

Saiko quickly picked up the phone behind the counter. "Cleanly Corner Store; how may we help you?" she quickly grabbed a noteblock and pen, jottling down another order. "Yes... yes... Very well, your order is set. You have your groceries delivered by the next half hour."

"Back to work..." Izuku hopped up to his feet. "Spadamon! Let's go! We've got another order."

The lion hopped up from the bench he'd been resting and took the order from Saiko, quickly heading to grab the necessary items and place them in the basket on Izuku's back.

"The address is nearby, so don't push yourself too hard." Saiko warned him. "You've got plenty of time."

"I won't. Thank you, Intelli-san." he nodded, and once they had all the food safely stored, Izuku and Spadamon both left the store.

When they did, Saiko could hear the blaring car horns coming from outside, frowning a bit.

"Sounds like there's still quite the commotion out there." Bakomon said as he stepped closer.

Saiko got out from behind the counter, looking out the door to see just how long of a line this actually was. Sure enough, there was a long line of cars and trucks pretty much parked in the middle of the road, and the line only seemed to be getting bigger by the minutes.

"What in blazes is going on...?" she then looked back at her partner Digimon. "Bakomon, do you mind covering for me for just a minute? I need to see what's causing this hold up."

"Of course, Intelli-senpai! I'll hold down the fort while you're gone!" Bakomon said with a determine look in his eye and a salute.

Saiko nodded gratefully, then headed out to explore the cause of this enormous traffic jam; maybe if she found the delivery truck with their crisps, she could even bring it back to the store. After a while of walking, Saiko noticed something set up on the sidewalk: a simple cardboard sign advertising something.

"Rinkmon's Blink Eats & Car Wash! Sparkling Food & A Sparkling Car To Brighten Up Your Drive!"

And just next to the text were the remarkably well done portraits of a man in a blue costume she didn't recognize — possibly this Rinkmon fellow — as well as a familiar girl with fawn-colored hair winking, and an equally familiar pink-haired and pink-skinned girl.

What are those hellraisers up to...? she thought to herself as she stared dumbfounded at the sign.

"Sorry we're laaaaaate~!" Camie called out as her, Mina, Yui and their Digimon approached the agreed-to meeting location. The Sun was almost fully covered by the horizon, and it was just about dinner time.

"What took you guys so long?" asked Kyouka.

"Sorry, sorry! We were just helping out our boss with some last minute stuff! Had to hire a few substitutes now that business is booming!" Mina chuckled. "Hey, where's Midori-kun and Spadamon?"

"Midoriya-san said he was going to go take care of something while we waited for you six. Naturally, Spadamon followed." Itsuka answered. "They haven't come back yet, but they did say we could head to the hostal and they'd catch up."

"Oh, goody! Because I'm starved~!" Camie jumped up. "Hey, we could head out to Rink-san's Blink Eats for dinner! The food there is absolutely delish!" she said before she swung the Rinkmon's Blink Eats' officially licensed gym bag she now carried with her, opening it up. "Our treat~!"

Everyone else's eyes widened immensely as they saw the sheer amount of hard cash that Camie was casually carrying.

"What the hell!? Th-That's gotta be ten times the amount we made!" Kyouka shouted. "That's absurd!"

"Th-There is no way you three made this much in just one day! It can't be real!" Saiko bristled, but Camie only giggled at their disbelief.

"Oh, it's real alright~" Mina giggled.

"Earned it..." Yui said in her usual cool manner.

"I assure you, this money is 100% completely... clean~!" she said with a wink and a sassy pose.

The others only groaned or sighed.

Neemon reached up, giving Kyouka a friendly pat on the back. "'Tis the privilege of beauty."

Kyouka paused for a moment before shooting him a cold glare. "Why are you telling me that..."

"Well, we should be glad we have this much money on us now." Itsuka tried to push the spirits back up. "We should still head to the hostal first and book our rooms. We can think about dinner afterwards."

"Dracomon doesn't care where we eat as long as we eat!" the little dragon puffed out her cheeks slightly as she was growing tired of waiting for her well-earned meal, hugging the picture book Itsuka bought for her protectively in her arms.

As everyone started heading towards the place they would hopefully spend the night in-

"Intelli-san!"

Saiko stopped, lagging behind the others as she heard Izuku approach. "Ah, there you are, Midoriya-kun. We were just about to leave."

"S-Sorry, it was a bit far away so we ran as fast as we could."

Saiko and Bakomon exchanged a glance of curiosity. "Might I ask what you went to do with such a hurry?" Saiko said.

"Ah... well... uhm... you see..." Izuku stumbled a bit, then looked at the lion. "Spadamon."

He nodded, and held out from behind his back a rather small item, one that fit snuggly in just about anyone's palm; it was a small stuffed teddy bear, bright yellow with sleepy red eyes.

Saiko's eyes widened at the sight of it. "M-...Midoriya-kun, this..."

"I, uhh... I saw this during one of my deliveries in a small shop. I-I know it's not the same bear you saw, but... well, I just thought of your story when I saw it. Maybe it was a waste of money, I don't know, but... growing up, I had all kinds of toys of my Hero, and they helped push me forward towards my dream. I just thought you might be able to look at this one, and feel the same push I do whenever I look at All Might."

The girl was speechless, slowly reaching down to grab the small bear. "I-...I don't know what to say, I-..." she felt her face heat up, so naturally, she had to deflect it. "Y-You are entirely right, this was most certainly a waste of valuable money we'll need for our journey! I am not a little kid anymore, I don't need some toy to motivate me, you... you dummy!"

Despite her words, Izuku just chuckled. "Y-Yeah... probably..."

"But... thank you." she ultimately said. "For thinking of me, regardless..." a genuine smile stretched over her lips, her watery eyes glistening as the moonlight took over from the sunlight. The sight quickly made Izuku's own face heat up, until-

"Hey, slowpokes! What's the hold up!" Mina called back, snapping them both back at attention.

"S-Sorry! We're coming!" Izuku called back. "Let's go, Spadamon!"

"Right!" the lion said as they both ran off after the rest of the group.

"That was awfully considerate of Izuku-san, don't you think, Intelli-san?" Bakomon said with a light chuckle.

Saiko didn't answer him, still staring at the small plushie she'd been offered. She didn't know why she felt her chest tighten when she looked at a silly little doll, or why her eyes felt like they were ready to burst. "S-Stupid... something about the location must be giving me allergies...!" she said as she quickly wiped her eyes.

"Saiko-chaaaan! Let's goooooo! We're hungryyyyy!"

"I'm coming! Show some bloody stomach fortitude for once!" she huffed as Camie called out to her. Saiko then stuffed the teddy into her duffel bag, making sure she left it holding on to its edge from with arms, as if the plushie was peeking out from her bag. "Let's go, Bakomon!"

"Right away, Intelli-san!" he said with another cheerful chuckle, following behind his partner as they marched on into the night...

Chapter Text

"Hey, check it out! I can see the city from up here!" Mina called out to the others from atop a hill, urging them to climb on top to see the sights it offered.

Sure enough, just a few minutes away from where they were, stood a large city of brick buildings; still a far cry from the modern cities they were primarily used to, but a step in the right direction. The sharp reds of the bricks were contrasted by a noticeable focus on greenery, as just about every building found itself covered in flowers and other flora, creating a city where civilization and nature coexisted side by side.

"So that's Greenmouth City, huh?" Kyouka said, looking a bit impressed at what was the largest settlement they'd stumbled across thus far.

"Name's pretty fitting." Alraumon giggled. "Looks like my kind of place!"

"It's so pretty from up here~!" Camie said. "It's like something out of a modern fairy tale."

"Right, let's not dawdle." Saiko was quick to say. "The faster we get there, the faster we can get Izuku to a doctor."

"Th-There's really no need to rush; my arms feel fine! We can rest for-"

"None of that!" Saiko interrupted him. "We came all the way out here for your sake; the faster we have you at 100%, the better for the group as a whole."

"Just think about it this way: you'll be able to help out a lot more with both your arms back." Itsuka said, clearly speaking more in Izuku's language.

"Mmhm..." Yui nodded in agreement, so Izuku didn't have much room to argue.

"Well... when you put it like that..."

"Let's head out, then." Saiko clapped her hands, "Seems to be about a thirty minute walk, by my estimate; we'll arrive at lunch time."

"Yay! The best time of day!" Dracomon cheered.

"Hey, Kyouka-chan, want me to carry the supplies?"

"Oh, thanks, Ashido." Kyouka wouldn't say no if Mina was offering, so she slipped out the backpack from her shoulders and handed it to her classmate. They'd gotten plenty of supplies to last them for a few days worth of travel, mostly non-perishable foods like dried fruits, nuts and beef jerky. "Speaking of, what do we do about lunch? Do we just eat what we have, or save it by hitting up a restaurant?"

"I vote on restaurant!" Mina quickly raised her hand. "I'm getting really sick of jerky!"

Saiko hummed in thought as they descended towards the road. "Well, I won't deny that saving our supplies would be the smart thing to do..." she looked back, "We've still got plenty of funds, don't we, Utsushimi-kun?"

Camie checked the pockets of the gym bag she carried, and quickly gave a thumbs up. "Yup~! More than enough for a night out in town~!"

"I've been meaning to ask about that..." Mina mused as she rubbed her chin, "Since this place uses dollars, does that mean we're on some kind of bizarro alternate America completely populated by monsters?"

"Well, actually, the dollar is a form of currency used in many different countries around the world." Saiko explained, "...however..." she frowned, thinking back to the odd dollar bills with things such as plungers, tin cans, and (of course) toilets printed on them, instead of any recognizable human figure. "I can safely say these dollars are unlike anything I've ever seen..." she felt a shiver run up her spine as she was once again forced to admit what she had sought to disprove for nearly a month; is it really possible they were stuck in an alternate dimension? It still sounded too ludicrous to believe, but the proof was definitely stacking up too high for her to ignore.

"In any case, we need to leave some money on the side for more supplies." Itsuka said. "I just have a feeling wherever we end up traveling to next isn't going to be a simple day's walk..."

Greenmouth City was a bustling place, home to a large variety of Digimon of all shapes and sizes; a place where small dog-like Digimon lived side by side with large dinosaurs, where insects hovered over the streets, being followed by living plant monsters.

The flora that grew through the brick and concrete proliferated throughout the city, vines and flowers dotting every single building, none escaping their vast reach. Small vehicles roamed the streets, as dragons helped the traffic along with their whistles and signs. It was a city like any other, regardless of the monsters that inhabited it.

Having decided to enjoy a well-cooked meal at a local diner, it also gave the Chosen a good chance at asking the locals for directions.

"You kids are look'n fer a doctor, are ya? Then ya must be talkin' 'bout ol' Medicmon; he's famous all over the place as the best doctor in town!"

With their destination in sight, the students had their meal and headed out. With the directions given to them, it wasn't difficult to find the building bearing the sign of a large green cross, indicating the existence of a medical clinic.

Stepping inside they would find an ordinary waiting room. Sitting behind the desk was a short woman-like Digimon with a bob cut, dressed in a nurse's outfit and covered in many bandages, who saw to it to file away certain documents.

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Aidmon

Level III

Type: Puppet

Attribute: Moral

The self-professed "White-Uniformed Angel", it is a Digimon who has devoted itself to healing the injuries of others, be they friend or foe. It is highly skillful at using its bandages to tie down misbehaving patients, before soothing their pain with its Rescue Kiss.

---

"Excuse us." Saiko spoke up, "We're here to see a Medicmon."

"Ah, oui, oui! Step right up, s'il vous plait!" the Aidmon cheerfully greeted them. "Welcome to Medicmon's Clinic! Do you 'ave an appointment?"

"We don't have one, I'm afraid."

"Oh, zat is quite alright! Lucky for you, ve 'ave 'ad quite ze slow day today! So, 'ow may we be of assistance?"

"Well, it's our friend here." Itsuka motioned to Izuku. "As you can see, he's-"

"Oh, mon Dieu!" exclaimed the Aidmon. "My poor boy, you look awful! What a dreadful thing! 'Ow long 'ave you been walking around like zis!?"

"I-It looks worse than it is!" Izuku tried to assure her. "And, uhm... about two weeks? I think?"

"Non, non, non! Zis will not do! Ve can't 'ave you running around like a scarecrow any longer!" she then pressed the button on the intercom, "Monsieur Medicmon? Medicmon! Ve 'ave a new patient in urgent need of your 'elp!"

In short order, a figure stepped out of their office. "Alright, alright, I'm coming..." the Digimon resembled a robot with a gas mask who carried on its back a whole host of medical equipment. "Right then, what seems to be the problem..."

---

DIGIMON ANALYZER

Medicmon

Level IV

Type: Machine

Attribute: Moral

A kind and helpful Digimon capable of performing health checkups wherever he goes thanks to the equipment he carries on his back. It heals wounded Digimon back to full health, and its incredible Wonder Medicine can draw out their latent abilities, making them even stronger than they were before!

---

The doctor eyed the group standing in his waiting room, quickly honing in on the boy with his arms all wrapped up in bandages. "Guess that answers that question..." he sighed. "What's the matter with you, boy? Decided to go play with some sharp rocks or something? Let me see those arms."

"Ah... well... it's kind of a long story..." Izuku said as the doctor took a closer look at his bandages. "Actually, I was asked to come get a second opinion; do you know of a Morphomon, by any chance?"

"Morphomon? There's a name I haven't heard in years." the doctor said with a gruff chuckle. "Yes, I've met her. How's the old bleeding heart doing these days?"

"Sh-She seemed fine? She wanted me to find you; she said she could only do so much with the limited equipment she had, so-"

"Of course she said that!" Medicmon huffed, "That crazy girl went off to some no-name island in the middle of the godforsaken ocean; I'd be surprised if she has enough materials to help with a cold!" he snorted. "But if she was the one to help you with these, then you couldn't be in better hands, limited gear or not. I'm going to want a thorough examination to know what I'm dealing with here; we'll see if there's anything else I can do." he turned and clapped his hands. "Nurses!"

Just like that, two other Aidmon slipped into view as soon as the doctor called. "Oui, oui?"

"You rang~?"

"Get the patient prepped for examination. I'll be with you shortly."

"Oui, oui!"

"Yes, doctor!" the two Aidmon quickly grabbed Izuku by the arms. "Right zis way, big boy~!"

Izuku stumbled a bit as he was led deeper into the clinic. "Ah- I- uh- g-guys-!?"

"This might take a while; I'd rather be overly thorough than not enough." said Medicmon as he faced the others. "Come back and pick him up by the end of the day." with that he turned and left to his office.

"Thank you, doctor." Saiko said.

"So, now what?" asked Kyouka.

"Guess we've got a few hours to burn. How about we check to see what Digimon do for fun around here~!" Mina said with a giggle.

"Ashido-kun, we're not here for sightseeing." Saiko quickly said. "Our next course of action should be trying to find as much information as we can on these supposed doorways back to our... world..." she shivered as she had to actually say that out loud.

"Aw, man... that's just more work!"

"Cheer up, Mina-chan! Just think of it as, like, a scavenger hunt!" Camie tried to pick the pink girl's spirits up, but Mina still kept her pouting expression.

"I'll stay here and wait for Izuku." Spadamon said. "I'm not leaving until he does."

"Do you want one of us to stay with you?" Itsuka asked, but the lion shook his head.

"No, that's fine. You guys go, what you have to do is important too; I'll defend Izuku fine on my own!"

"Right then, we'll cover more ground if we split up into teams." Saiko quickly took charge.