Examon couldn’t quite tell how long it had been since the return to his failures in the wars against the Demon Lords had faded away. It hadn’t taken long after the deaths of Gankoomon, Jesmon and their best and brightest had played out before him in vivid detail for him to be catapulted fully back into his long years of helplessness in the belly of the Knights’ operation.

“... This isn’t right. This isn’t how I remember.”

But this time, something had changed. The sensations that had been so vividly recreated when he relived the concluding massacres of the war were nowhere to be found as he moved further through his past.

When Examon had first lived through the decay of the Knights, he had been a young warrior: traumatized by the loss of mentors, friends, and fledgling students. When Imperialdramon subsumed the helm of the Knights from Omegamon, installed and upheld savage lunatics as the protectors of the realm and trapped the Digital World in his controlled chaos, he’d felt as helpless to change things as a child trapped at the lowest level of servitude to the Knights’ machine.

Now, all he felt as he relieved those long, awful years was the strength he’d neglected and denied himself. He still saw the atrocities unfold. Temples built in honour of the Sovereigns and Ancients were razed and their occupants driven out into the bleak wilderness; but this time, he saw the hesitation and regret in the eyes of the soldier that tore them down and chased the victims away. Councils were held to discuss the invasion of yet another remote and independent part of the Digital World, and the motion passed for the Knights to swallow them up like a snake descending upon a mouse: but this time, Examon felt the anger that would have let him speak up, and knew the qualms amongst others that would have given that objection the floor.

Examon remembered a conversation that he’d had with Siggy when he’d first come to the human world. Supposedly, humans became almost entirely different creatures every seven years: all cells that had been alive at the beginning of that interval of time would have died off and been completely replaced by its end. It had seemed surreal, almost unbelievable at the time, especially when Siggy had cracked a rare joke that he’d be a completely different human being by the time he was an old man.

But now, the ridiculousness of it all was a spark of light in the darkness. Unlike Siggy, Examon may or may not have been made of the same data as he had those many years ago: but like the human he’d come to call partner- no, the human he’d come to call friend, he’d become almost entirely a different person from his youth.

Reliving the horrors of the war had shaken Examon; but as memories of the intervening years between then and now washed over him, little about them shook him. At the time, he’d felt as helpless as he had when he’d been laid low by the enemy. Now with age and experience behind his belt, he realized how much of a fool he’d been. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been the cleanest affair, but the possibility of fighting back against Imperialdramon and his goons had been real from the start. The loss of Alphamon had been a terrible one, but it shouldn’t have been the death of his hope. As poor as their relationship had been, Craniamon may have sided with him. Even distraught over UlforceVeedramon’s disappearance, Magnamon might have joined him. He wondered how he’d even questioned the loyalty of Gallantmon, MirageGaogamon and ShineGreymon. And-

"You heard me. Go to assist your master. I won't stop you."

It wasn’t simply age and experience that differentiated Examon from his younger, foolish self: it was knowledge of his fellow Knights. Chinks in the armour of Imperialdramon’s regime had existed even beyond the obvious weakpoints: even Parasimon, deeply twisted and beholden to the will of Yggdrasil as he was, may have given him and his fellow skeptics their piece if they’d cared to approach him as a fellow Knight rather than as an insurmountable obstacle. The foundation of the order that Imperialdramon had built through hook and crook had not stood upon the steel of domination, but the sand of deception and resignation. Their situation had been bleak, yes. But never had it been hopeless. If only they- no, if only he had the courage to stand up for what he believed and accept the risks of mounting resistance, none of this might have come to pass.

In any other situation, the realization may have been harrowing, or even devastating. A final, grim punctuation to the mess his life had been, the final word on his impotence.

But in this situation, it was all that he needed. His consciousness of his agency would come to haunt him soon enough, but in that very moment, all he felt was something breaking as the visions of his past faded into nothing.

Courage had been all he needed then to fight back against Imperialdramon, and it was what he needed now to escape the grasp of Moon=Millenniummon.
---

An empty twilight void was all that Alphamon could see, for she had spent so much time in slumber beneath Dorumon’s consciousness that she was spared much of the horror endured by her previous and current hosts; couldn’t torment her with a past she had mostly abstained from anyway.

Was she lucky? Maybe she was; maybe she wasn’t. Hard to say.

Her presence as a primarily spoken myth left her with virtually no tangible mark on the Digital World, made worse by Imperialdramon having scrubbed much of her remaining presence within the Royal Knight’s ranks and exemplified by Dorumon being fully unaware of her presence.

Observe. Wait and observe. Protect in silence, then observe again.

How long had Alphamon played that role over and over again? Was she not sick of it?

“Of course I was.”

Was her regular sneaking sprees not a proof of that? Was her yearning to talk with other Digimons outside of her circle not clear enough when she approached the Rookies she rescued during the fair? Was her decision to sleep and create Dorumon from a fragment of herself not a loud statement of her desire to understand what life looked like through the eyes of those they were sworn to protect?

Then why didn’t she speak up? She was the Knight of the Empty Seat. The other Knights would most likely listen to her had she just said something in the first place. While they wouldn’t outright agree with her, many would’ve given her quandary some thoughts and few could’ve been persuaded to adopt her way of thinking.

“... I thought I was the only one with such an idea.”

Or was she?

When Dorumon became aware of her presence, she acknowledged her with a justified resentment, but she not only acknowledged her existence and independence, but also talked to her much like a sibling would talk to an elder sister she often fought with, but couldn’t live without. It was endearing, in a strange way, and she was quite fond of their exchanges, vitriolic as many of them were.

Despite the power Imperialdramon exerted upon the Knights, Examon still remembered her. Yes, he had every right to resent her for leaving the Royal Knight to become a shadow of itself, but he acknowledged that she used to exist. Through her fusion with him, her presence helped turned the tide of battle against the usurper Imperialdramon and his forces. Examon even made a personal point of throwing a massive fit over her decision to make him her new host, a decision that - once again - she made in her lonesome. He cared about what she did, if only because of the impact it had on him, his human partner and the one particular Digimon he seemed to care beyond mere friendship and alliance.

Looking far back, she then remembered that the Rookies she saved still made the point of expressing their gratitude for her despite their initial fears. Because of her, they could continue to enjoy the fair, to bask in the momentary merriment and live for another day.

Beneath the jet black armor and blue mantle was a Knight so isolated by her own solitude that she was unable to see the other roles she played in her existence. It took her this long to realize that her presence and actions had an impact on others, both good and bad. She may never function the same way other Digimons did, but that didn’t mean that she was disconnected from them.

She was not alone, never was. She was simply too scared to acknowledge that.

The Royal Knight of the Empty Seat was scared of being forever alone.

In the past, that epiphany would’ve left her with more thoughts to mull in her lonesome, not to mention all the denial she could muster, but now, that acceptance became the bright light that manifested in the endless, bottomless twilight room of void as it twisted into a dark tunnel, seemingly trying to drag that light as far away from her reach as possible.

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re not taking that anywhere!”

With a crouch, then a leap, Alphamon chased after the light, the truth she now wished to grasp and never let go again. She had a lot of amendments to make, so she wanted to start with this one: catching that light and reuniting with her allies once more.
---
The barren, unremitting silence within the union of consciousness that formed Examon Mordred was finally broken as a web of fractures split the white void of the mindscape on either side. With a roar and a laborious effort that pulled the borders of the union wide open, Examon’s mind forced its way back into its own time, the tumultuous screaming vortex of his personal timestream fading first into a burst of static and then into a great nothingness that disappeared with a groan as the fractures went with them.

Shaken, but not broken, Examon’s mind adjusted to the merciful silence of the mindscape. Now it was simply his thoughts that wreaked havoc on him: a feeling that age had taught him to cope with, however shakily.

Still, Examon didn’t have much time on his lonesome as a burst of light suddenly came crashing into the already white mindscape and Alphamon ungracefully came tumbling in, rolling once before landing on her back with a wheeze. The chase for the light had been a long and seemingly endless one, but she somehow made it, much to her surprise. With a grunt and a shake of her head, she pushed herself back to her feet, stumbling slightly in the process, and then took a deep breath before turning to see Examon, shaken, but relatively intact.

“Thank you for making it here before I do,” she said to the dragon with a bemused chuckle. What she wouldn’t give to see the familiar grump. “It would’ve been quite egregious for the guest to return before the host.”

“I guess I can take pride in that much.” However, that grump was nowhere to be seen as Examon finally caught his breath and spoke up: a grimace on his face and a chuckle of his own twisting his voice. “But from what I saw, I haven’t exactly got much else to be proud of.”

“You’re not alone in that regard, Examon,” Alphamon calmly replied. She wouldn’t claim to know what he had seen, but from the look on his draconic face, she could guess that it was most likely an unpleasant blast from the past. “There is no joy in being confronted by my own denial, but I suppose I had it coming,” she said with another chuckle, a self-depreciating mockery of herself, “Still, I’m relieved we both made it through.”

“I suppose I have to say the same: I’ve known I’m an idiot as long as I can remember, but it’s taken me long enough to realize just how much of one I am.” Examon continued to chuckle too, his laughter equally self-deprecating as his voice found itself getting shakier. “There I was, going off on you for running off and disappearing: maybe I should have had a word with myself about giving up so quickly.” The chuckles stopped, replaced by a deep sigh. Weak attempts at humour could only carry Examon so far. It was time to be serious.

Alphamon couldn’t help but notice someone was still missing though.

“Where is your partner, Siggy?”

“I don’t know where Siggy is: whatever Moon=Millenniummon did to us, I don’t think it’s as simple as giving us visions of the past.” Examon couldn’t help but shudder at his recollection of the experience. “It felt too real, like I was there when those demons almost bled me out. I don’t know about you, but it took me a bit more than stubbornness to break free of it.”

She could understand why Examon had such a struggle against the bizarre visions. No, scratch that; she even hesitated to call them as such. Rather, they felt like real recollections, almost as if their souls were being placed on that point in time to experience all as it had happened: every sensation, every sound, every turmoil, and every pain.

“I don’t blame you. What I’ve seen was nothing short of a reminder of my past mistakes and failures, one after another. Looking back, it struck me just how lenient you were with your words, given the impact of my selfish actions.” Alphamon nodded, her forlorn gaze obscured by her jet-black armor.

However, she knew that the time to sulk and brood was not now; they had other things to worry about.

“... Maybe so, but I’ve got to face up to the facts myself.” And fortunately, so did Examon. His voice cracked slightly. This time, however, it trembled with remorse instead of dark humour. If it were possible, it was quite likely he’d be holding back tears at that very moment. “I don’t know where Siggy is, or how long it’ll take for him to make it back. I don’t even know if we’ll stand a chance against that thing without him.” He took a deep breath: and then another that turned into a haggard, shaky affair that broke what stoicism was left in his voice altogether. “But I do know something. Too many people have died because I was too stupid to do what I could before it was too late, and if I don’t change that now, he won’t have anything to come back to.”

Alphamon had never seen Examon so… broken, for a lack of better word. For as long as she knew him, the dragon had always held out against whatever chaos they endured together, so to see him looking like he’d lost all hope was quite disheartening, yet it also made him relatable at the same time. Without his stoicism, the dragon became less of this mythical paragon others painted him, along with his fellow Knights, to be and more of a Digimon with his own strengths and weaknesses who just happened to be immensely powerful.

“Neither of us know where Siggy is; that is a fact.” Alphamon slowly walked towards the dragon, giving him his personal space, yet also cutting short the distance between the two of them. “However, I personally have faith in him as much as I do in you. He is a strong man and he will break through just as you have. It will take time, yes, and I’m certain that he will have his struggles as well, but we will eventually be together again.” Pausing for a moment to put more of her thoughts into coherent words, she then said to him, “This will sound incredibly strange, coming from me, but the only thing we can do for him is wait. Still, I understand your frustration, one that I now share myself.” Another pause as Alphamon seemed to be dealing with her own displeasure before she continued on, “It is vexing that we can only stand here and wait. If there was anything we could do to get ourselves up and moving-”

“... God damn it, you old bat.” As Examon found his voice again, something like disbelief was plain in his voice. His eyes widened, shaking in their sockets, and his lips turned up to reveal his teeth-

“I could just about fucking kiss you right now.” But a moment later, and it was clear that it was anything but anger that brought Examon to life again. What had looked like a snarl turned into a uneasy but sincere smile: and what had sounded like cold fury turned into a chuckle, and then into a wheezy chorus of laughter. “There I was, getting mad at you, but you might have just saved us all, you stupid, amazing old bitch.”

The laughter became steadier, but then stopped. When Examon continued, his voice was steady and confident once more. “Siggy may still be out there in that hell, but so long as we’re in this body, he can’t be entirely gone: and we can’t be entirely helpless. Tell me, Alphamon. How many minds does it take to coordinate a Biomerged body?”

Like a ticking clock, Alphamon’s digital mind began to run through all sorts of programs until she seemed to reach a conclusion. “Two, I would assume,” she replied, “which will be the two beings who make up the Biomerged body, in most cases being the human and the Digimon.”

It was then that something clicked, like a new formula derived from this equation.

“However, there are three of us here: you, Siggy, and myself, yet only you and Siggy make up the entire physical data of this Biomerged body whereas I’m only here within an operative capacity and, at any given time, only two minds are required to properly operate a Biomerged body. If we can assume that the data that make up the body is perfectly intact despite what is happening to us mentally, then…” Her eyes lit up with hope as she began to reach what she believed to be the conclusion Examon came up with. “... The two of us might still be able to operate it regularly.”

“Like you said, Siggy’s a good kid. But if we wait for him to wake up, there might not be anything for him to wake up to.” As he’d expected, Alphamon had quickly figured out what he meant. There was no time to waste: and nothing to lose in putting the idea to the test. “He’ll come back when he’s good and ready to come back. And until then, we’ll do everything we can to send that floating pile of garbage to the depths of Hell before it’s too late. I think- no, I’m sure he’d agree. Do what you can, when you can, and don’t lose faith.”

“This untested idea can either be horrendously disastrous or momentous enough to help us hold our ground and turn the tide of battle…” A brief musing in silence, then a soft chuckle from Alphamon. It wasn’t her usual calm chuckle, but one with a tinge of reckless madness and steely determination, much like the reckless bravery of Dorumon. “Well then, Examon, shall we roll the dice together and see if we get a high enough number to see this abomination destroyed?”

“Let’s do it.” Examon had nothing left to say. The time for words had passed. With the familiar hard-headedness coming over Alphamon as he steeled his own resolve, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he went about synchronizing with his physical form once more: and as he reached out to Alphamon, a great rush of sensation blasted over them all at once as light broke through into the world around them.
---
[Kept You Waiting, Huh?]

The plan had been simple enough on its own merits. With no realistic chance of taking BanchoLeomon down head-on in his current state, Beelzemon had decided to rematerialize elsewhere in the panicking city and bide his time for an opening. When the sky suddenly turned dark as the world around him was swallowed up by the red and black mist, he saw his opening. He’d surprise BanchoLeomon while his attention was set on whatever the hell that thing from earlier had become, and warp away to another world altogether once he’d torn his crest from the bastard’s deteriorating corpse.

“Truth be told, I can’t fault you for leaving. But that changes nothing.”

But that simple plan had gone all kinds of wrong as he got within a few hundred meters of his target and the goddamn world just about gave out from under him. When he came to, he was still in a ruined city: swallowed up in a bright orange haze of heat and flame that turned everything that still stood into a wavering, indistinct silhouette.

But this time, the bastard that ‘greeted’ him was far worse than BanchoLeomon or Moon=Millenniummon. With no strength left to even attempt escape, Beelzemon settled for trying to curse defiantly at his assailant, to no avail. It was as if he had lost even the most basic control over his own body. However, even if he hadn’t, the unbearable heat of the inferno enveloping his surroundings would have sufficed to silence him; as would the sheer force of the armoured boot crushing his throat as it pinned him by the back of his neck to the ground.

“If only you’d ran and stayed in your hole, you may have enjoyed a painless end.” Beelzemon was helpless to move as he heard a weapon leaving its sheath behind him: and as he felt his very organs begin to boil in place as an even greater heat swallowed up the air around him. “But even freed of your Crest, you couldn’t rise above your own base nature.”

Beelzemon heard himself wheezing out one final growl. Whether it was from defiance or fear, he could no longer tell: but he was helpless all the same as he felt something at his back, a blaze of terror filling his body along with his combusting innards.

“I won’t apologize, Beelzemon.“ Daemon took the hilt of Ira in both hands, aligning the incandescent blade above the former Demon Lord’s core. “But consider this mercy, against what Lilithmon may have inflicted upon you.”

The point of the sword plunged downwards: and, mercifully, Beelzemon’s vision yielded into darkness almost instantly as his core swiftly gave out beneath the overwhelming power of Ira, and all sensation in his body along with it.

“Don’t listen to him!” All except for the voice that jolted him back to awareness, bringing him to another place.
---
“Is this really alright? I never thought I’d care a jot more than I had to for the inmates up there, but here we are.”

This time, the world around him was cold and intensely, uncomfortably bright. An unpleasant hum of mechanical noise filled Beelzemon’s ears from the surroundings, and harsh, fluorescent light assaulted his face as he opened his eyes, enough to make him flinch. He tried struggling, but once again, his body refused to respond. Once again, he couldn’t move: but this time, for as weak and depleted as he felt, he could tell it wasn’t because of physical exhaustion.

Nor, for as effective as they felt, was it the bindings that encased him from head to foot in his cell.

“I getcha. Even they don’t deserve to put up with trash like this.” As his vision cleared, Beelzemon saw the source of the voice from before. His cell was closed up by a transparent door, with a human figure in some kind of bulky uniform standing with his back to him. The voice now was different, however: it seemed to come from the Digimon standing across from the humanoid, a species that Beelzemon couldn’t discern at a glance. “But the Sovereigns and the higher-ups back home can’t agree on how to handle him on account of everything that’s happened, so he’s our problem until then.”

“What, because he used to be one of theirs?” The first voice scoffed. “Goes to show how far connections can get you, huh? First their warden, and now this piece of shit.”

Beelzemon had no idea what the two were talking other than how it confirmed his suspicions that he’d been captured and imprisoned once more: but a rage began to build in his chest that would make Daemon himself take a step back. He was the Lord of Gluttony! If only his body would listen to him, he’d rip the Digimon’s limbs clean from his body and make him watch as he did the same to the human. How dare they talk about him like that!

“Enough.” And then a third voice introduced itself. This time, as Beelzemon looked up, there was no mistaking the speaker’s identity: and an even fouler fury filled him down to his stomach as he looked upon the silhouette of MirageGaogamon. “I had my misgivings about this, but the Commander, Subcommander and Lord Captain explained it clearly in the briefing. However he may have been in the past, this state is a different question entirely. If we can convince him that what happened to his partner wasn’t his fault, we might be able to snap him out of it.”

If, in that moment, Beelzemon had been able to free himself of the bindings, the opening round to his retribution upon the two guards would have been forcing them to watch MirageGaogamon slowly die as he pinned him to the ground and burned him from the inside out with black flames.

Not his fault? Of course it wasn’t his fault! As pleased as he was that his final actions had led to his freedom, that dumb brat had brought his fate upon himself! And what did that stupid mutt know about him? If he remembered right, he could barely handle a Demon Lord’s Captain, let alone the real deal! Where did he get off spouting this bullshit?!

“Look, I don’t like him either, but he’s right.” And then a new voice came. Beelzemon was jolted straight from his dark thoughts about his wardens as the sound came straight into his head. It wasn’t like the others. It spoke directly to him, not around him.

It was the voice from before.

“We don’t have much time, Beelzemon. Please, listen to me, before it’s too late-”

“Fuck you!” This time, Beelzemon’s voice came loud and clear in his head: and the world fell away once again as the tremendous roar shook his mind once again from one place to the next.
---
“So, you had the gall to come back. I’m actually a little bit impressed.”

It was back to being dark, but the air was as cold as before. All around him, disgusting shapes and structures filled the room to the brim. Thick wires and cables ran along from all the ends and walls, connecting into organic devices that further connected into a raised platform in the centre, some kind of altar or reactor. Above that, the top of the building had been torn asunder, letting light in from the night sky above. The view from the breach was one that revealed them to be high above the ground, and the light of the moon, stars and spotlights of the neighbouring skyscrapers illuminated the figure standing atop the central structure.

As he saw who it was, Beelzemon wished he could change her back for Daemon or MirageGaogamon.

“It’s been a while, Beelzemon.” Lilithmon’s tone was calm, but deathly cold: and her concealed glare could well have made him drop dead all by itself. Behind her, her Captain trained his weapon on Beelzemon, the savage smirk that usually covered his face replaced with the same death stare as his mistress. “Come to take your punishment head-on, have we?”

“Hardly.” Beelzemon spoke without realizing it: and his mind screamed with indignant fury at himself. “Don’t play dumb, Lilithmon. You know there’s more going on here than your boyfriend’s letting on.” Seriously, what the fuck!?

The hulking brute of a Captain snarled and readied his weapon: but a raised hand from his mistress a moment later bid him to stop.

“Calm yourself, AvengeKidmon.” Lilithmon’s tone was still calm and measured. Seemed like he hadn’t signed his death-warrant yet: but that didn’t stop his heart from jumping into his mouth as the Lord of Lust stepped forward as her Captain lowered his gun.

“Perhaps, but do you really think some clever little words will be enough to snatch my loyalty away from Lucemon?” This time, Lilithmon’s words were broken by a haughty chuckle: and a fierce clap of red lightning that brought her horrid barbed spear forth from the void and into the grip of her clawed hand. “That may have sufficed for those soft-hearted knights of yours eleven years ago, but you haven’t learned a single thing since then if you think it’ll work on me.”

“Beelzemon!” Suddenly, there was someone at his side. Turning, he saw that there was a small group of humans and Digimon behind him, all but one of them worn down and edging worriedly away from Lilithmon. The newcomer was one of the only two who seemed ready to fight to live: something about the tall, red-haired young woman seemed familiar, but his already-disturbed stomach seemed to do cartwheels on its axis as he saw the Digimon with her.

“Seriously, you have some damn sense of timing.” The Seraphimon was silent and focused even as Beelzemon barely held his sense of composure together at the sight of him. Instead, it was that uncannily familiar girl who did the talking. Predictably enough, she didn’t seem happy to see him: at least, not until she continued. “But I’m glad you came through. Do you think we can hold them?”

“Kid, with the five of us here, we could push them back until the heat death of the universe.” Beelzemon couldn’t believe what he was doing and saying. What kind of next-level hell had he wandered into?

“Hmm. That’s the Beelzemon I remember.” Seraphimon finally broke his silence with a nod of assent: and that was all the push that the Demon Lord needed to dissociate again.
---
“What the goddamn shit was that?” This time, Beelzemon barely paid any attention to the new place he had been sent to. This bizarre situation had made no sense to begin with, and that last experience had somehow dragged his understanding to some point below zero.

“The truth.” And then that damn voice chimed in again. “It’s like what that stupid triangle did to us, but worse. They’re futures- possible futures. And you have to get up, Beelzemon, or that thing’s going to kill-”

“No. Fuck you.” Beelzemon snarled, fury dissociating him straight out of whatever was going on around him once more and into yet another environment. “Who the fuck are you and why the fuck do you think you know me?”

“... Right, you’re an idiot.” The voice sighed. Beelzemon’s resulting snarl was answered with: “Well, you asked at a good time. Looks like this thing shows you the past, too.”

Beelzemon bit down on his snarl. Anger still dangerously close to boiling point, he momentarily allowed himself to regain focus:

"Come on, get up. You gotta get up!" The voice came again: only this time, it wasn’t in his head.

It came from right next to him.

His anger froze solid. A Parrotmon loomed above him, pinning him to the ground with murderously sharp claws. He felt himself scream defiantly as the Digimon attacked: but it wasn’t for his sake.

It was for the boy who’d put himself between them. The boy he’d now gone out of his way to save from the attack of the Parrotmon.

“... Dirk?” The frozen anger melted away, as did Beelzemon’s awareness of his surroundings.

“I knew you were in there somewhere, dumbass.” This time, Dirk’s voice was almost cracked with emotion. “Now, let’s get you out of here.”

After convincing Dorugoramon to follow him back to where Examon was, Parasimon had started the return trip with the fellow Mega in relative silence. Although their relationship wasn’t the worst, at least not compared to the lost cause that the Twelfth Knight’s interactions with some of the other partner Digimon were, it wasn’t exactly one that inspired deep conversation.

At least, not until Parasimon bit the bullet.

“Pardon me for asking, there hasn’t really been a good time to do this before-” He hesitated at first, debating whether now constituted anything resembling a ‘good time’: but once again, he decided to bite the bullet. “But what the hell’s going on with you and Alphamon?” His relationship with the First Knight could generously be included with those ‘lost causes’, but his somewhat limited knowledge of the Tamers and their Partners suggested that Dorugoramon and her were one and the same; which his ability to think critically rejected as absolute bullshit, comparing the sheer difference in demeanour between the dignified, if utterly irresponsible First Knight and the foul-mouthed, perpetually-angry beast dragon he was accompanying now.

“It’s complicated and I mean that in every possible way.” Unlike what her feral demeanor might have suggested, it looked like Dorugoramon wasn’t against the idea of a civil conversation, debatable as Parasimon’s topic of choice may be. “From what I was told, it looked like Alphamon, at some point in a distant past, decided that she wanted to sleep in on her job, so she made me.” A soft growl from the dragon’s maw as she tried to piece together something coherent to follow up on that. “Apparently she created me using a part of her core data as a starting point and let me run with that on my own while she roleplayed the sleeping beauty. No idea how she did it - she never explained - but that apparently explained why she and I us share the same body, but are independent of each other, in a way.”

“... Uh-huh.” Wow, she wasn’t kidding about the complicated part. But the gritty details and particulars aside, that explanation offered one essential element of clarity: “So, you’re completely different people after all?” It wasn’t much, but it definitely made sense of the relationship between the two; as well as the outstanding difference in personality.

“Yes, believe it or not, but she started calling the shots once she woke up and I got relegated to the back seat whenever she did that. I was essentially her ‘civilian’ mask for much of my waking hours and she made me out of a curious whim to boot,” Dorugoramon growled, partly with disdain for her origin and partly out of bemusement at the idea that the Knight of the Empty Seat’s idea of sating her curiosity was to create a new digimon. Such flagrant use of extraordinary power would’ve made quite an amusing story had she not been the punchline to said story.

“Hmm.” Maybe this hadn’t been the best thing to use to start a conversation. Nonetheless, Parasimon didn’t stay deterred for long. “If it means anything to you, I couldn’t give any less of a shit about the First. Her going off into the wild digital yonder might have got me into this mess, but I’ll be damned if it’s anyone but me that gets me out of it.” Not that he had much choice in the matter, he thought to himself. All he could do now was make sure that when he went out, it was a way that left a big enough dent in Moon=Millenniummon to soften it up for the rest of them. But pushing that dark thought back to the back for now, he supposed everyone had their own mess to crawl out of: and Dorugoramon had just laid hers bare. “Whatever she had to do with your birth aside, does it really matter now if people th- if people know you’re your own Digimon?”

While Dorugoramon had yet to fully get over being stuck under Alphamon’s shadow, the freedom now in her grasp made her realize just how inconsequential her early hang-ups about her identity and existence were. “No, I suppose not,” she replied, her voice softening somewhat. “It was annoying at first, but now, it doesn’t even matter anymore.” Pausing for a moment, the dragon then turned to Parasimon and added, “Besides, we’ve both moved on past that, literally in her case. Left the house to me and moved to a new place.”

If Parasimon’s degenerating, incoherent facial features included anything resembling a brow, he’d have quirked it at that. But they didn’t, and he decided it was best not to mire an otherwise surprisingly pleasant conversation in his continued distaste for the First Knight.

“That’s good, at least.” He wasn’t really sure what else he could add at this point, however. “Hopefully you’ll make it through this and live to enjoy the world waiting for you on the other end.” More than could be said for him, at least; and Parasimon sighed softly. Maybe it was best to come clean with someone about what he’d seen. Dorugoramon had been comfortable enough to talk about her existential hang-ups, so maybe he could force himself to talk about his own. “So, when you were-”

But something stopped him mid-sentence as he heard something up ahead. His flight ground to a halt, and he held his two right arms out in front of Dorugoramon in case the same sounds had fallen upon deaf ears.

“Do you hear that?” It was faint, especially with the winds around them, but if one could perceive it, there was the sound of joints creaking to life and an electric hum rising to meet it.

Silence as Dorugoramon stopped, then quietly turned her head slowly from side to side, as if to better discern whatever noise Parasimon had brought to her attention, but it was clear that she heard it. “Yeah,” the dragon responded, her voice deep with caution. “Don’t think I recognize it though.”

Parasimon narrowed his eyes, peering into the distance. Like Dorugoramon, he couldn’t make out the owner of the sounds at this range; but as orange light blazed through the fog to discern what was ahead, he made out a shape rising from the ground. Vast, and humanoid if not for the massive wings and tail that sprouted at different points from its back.

“... Oh, fuck off.” Of course it was just Examon waking up.
---
Examon’s awakening wasn’t exactly the smoothest. The moment he’d come to, it was as if he’d fallen asleep completely drained of energy, all attempts to move beyond twitching or feebly rolling about entirely futile.

But he’d expected that much. After all, that was what his plan with Alphamon had been to counteract.

“Ready?”

“At your command.”

The two consciousnesses reached out to each-other, and took hold of their prone body. What had only been able to twitch and struggle moments before now shakily regained full control of itself; and Ambrosius Longini returned to Examon’s hand as he stuck it into the ground, using it to pull himself up as his body groaned in resistance.

“Fuck, were these always that heavy?” He grumbled, nodding to the Caledfwlch on his back as they hung down like weighted packs. Alphamon’s presence was slowly making them bearable, but the musculature and technology that connected them into the remainder of his body was only slowly making the massive digizoid wings bearable as he tried to regain his balance.

“Perhaps it was simply the stupor of awakening talking. Dorumon occasionally said something similar whenever she woke up from a long nap,” Alphamon replied with a soft chuckle as she assisted in pushing Examon’s body upward, gradually working on bringing every fiber within to life. The weight of the humongous wings was quite a burden, but she wholeheartedly believed that it wasn’t a challenge they couldn’t surmount.

“I guess. Talk about swapping one weight for another, though,” Examon grumbled, laughing darkly as he realized the irony of the situation. If he could get out of the hell they’d just escaped from, this should be nothing by comparison.

Indeed, it was only a few moments later when the wings began to rise of their own accord. As his muscles finally returned to acceptable functionality, the life force that powered his chassis slowly followed suit: and he found himself able to stand by himself. “You adjusting alright?”

With Examon’s body now erect, Alphamon shifted her focus to monitoring their surroundings, a hard task given the ever-present fog that obscured their general vicinity. Still, they got through their first hurdle and that was something to be happy about for now. “Yes, thankfully.”

Examon nodded: maintaining his balance, he looked around with Alphamon to increase their chances of picking up something from their surroundings. Unfortunately, it seemed that they still had a way to go until they had full functionality of their body. His senses, previously sharp even with the strain of the Hazard, were now fairly dulled even without the fog encroaching on them. He couldn’t see or sense anything more than a few tens of meters away at present, and all he could make out from there were the abstract, obscured shapes of his surroundings and the thick red and black mist.

So, it came as something more than a shock when a dark shape rushed through his blind spot to join him, almost knocking him over again as it hovered in the air above him.

“Took you long enough.” Even through the sudden jolt of shock and the poor state of his senses, the shape’s voice was enough to clue Examon in to its identity. “Rough time in there?”

“Fucking hell, you don’t know the half of it.” As Parasimon rejoined him, Examon felt an inordinate amount of relief. Even with the Knight’s terse demeanour, it was good to have company. “I never thought I’d be glad to see you, but here we are.”

Moments after, Parasimon and Examon were soon joined by Dorugoramon as she landed just a short distance in front of the latter, growling with worry as she hastily clambered towards him on all four only to stop when he was within an arm’s reach. Once she was certain that it was really the gargantuan dragon she knew, the silver dragon sighed, then tucked her wings while looking away with a scowl - an approximation of one her draconian face could make anyhow. “Well, you’re back, at the very least,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Can’t exactly say I’m in one piece, though.” Examon sighed. He didn’t know how much time they had, so as much as he wanted to wait and recover and catch up, his hands were tied. Might as well cut to the point. “I’m going to take what he said and assume you two got the same rough experience that we did from that thing up there?” He composed himself, stretching his wings outwards to help his balance as he looked from Dorugoramon to Parasimon and back. “Siggy hasn’t made it out yet.”

“... Then how-” Parasimon froze, descending to the ground as his wings faded out. His limited knowledge also had him under the impression that two minds were needed to move a biomerged body, so how on earth- “How the hell are you up if there’s only one of you in there?”

“I assume Alphamon finally picked up some chores to do, like helping you not be a sitting target?” That little information certainly caught Zei’s attention, but Dorugoramon quickly interjected, knowing how the human half felt about the man in question and feeling that letting her speak when she was so high-strung probably wasn’t a sound idea.

“I’d like to reward you for the accurate guess, but given our situation, I don’t suppose you would settle with a ‘yes’ and a kiss on the head from me, would you?”

Well, there was something to thank the temporal nightmares for: keeping her from cringing and reeling back from hearing Alphamon’s refined, distinctly feminine voice coming from the eldritch maw that was Examon’s; that was one kind of nightmare too many.

“I’ll take the ‘yes’. Keep this kiss,” Dorugoramon replied with the most deadpan tone her part-mad-part-feral self could muster.

“... Wait, wait, hold up.” Parasimon remembered the end of his conversation with Dorugoramon now. He hadn’t quite processed what he was seeing yet, but that memory set his mental gears turning to catch up. Alphamon had left Dorugoramon. Examon was moving without his partner’s help. Now… this unspeakable horror.

Realization dawned on Parasimon like a new day.

“...” With a slow, audible creak of crystal against crystal, Parasimon leaned in to stare at Examon- or, more appropriately, Alphamon in the body of Examon- with what was perhaps the most recognizably bemused face his muddled features could muster. “... Someone, anyone. Please tell me I’m still in that thing’s trance.”

“If this makes you feel better, you’re not the only one who wants to strangle her, so feel free to get in line,” Dorugoramon chimed with a faint smile tugging her metallic lips, having finally found a sense of humor in Alphamon’s initially-frustrating ‘creative’ solution.

Pulling the eldritch dragon’s maw into a polite smile - something she never got a chance to show until now, Alphamon looked at Parasimon straight in the eye and noted his response internally. “Strange as I will sound now, I sincerely hope that this isn’t the most horrifying sight you’ve seen thus far.”

“I think you’re the most horrifying thing I’ve met in my life in general.” Parasimon’s eyes couldn’t blink, but they sure could twitch in their sockets. “Examon, please come back out here. I’ll take you any day over this awful woman.”

The fog around them had been nothing but an absolute eyesore and thick enough to silence them, to say nothing of the perilous condition for its presence in the first place, and, for a moment, the sight of Dorugoramon suddenly crumpling to the ground might be a giant red flag.

However, as the pair watched her body shudder, they could hear what sounded distinctively like a snicker, then a loud, bark-like guffaw as she slowly rose to her feet, clutching her side while letting it all out.

For the first time since she and Zei Biomerged, Dorugoramon laughed.

“Did you hear that, Alphamon? Finally, someone gutsy enough to say that to your face!” the dragon grinned, metallic fangs visible from one end of her maw to another. She was practically batshit crazy by this point, so she might as well go all the way. While none of the party assembled here could tell, even Zei noted the humorous tone well enough to let out a faint chuckle only Dorumon could hear.

“My, how mean,” Alphamon cooly replied with a chuckle of her own, never once dropping her smile. However, a closer inspection would reveal a strong hint of relief mixed in with amusement in her smile. “Still, that’s good to know.”

“EXAMON, I SWEAR ON MY LIFE, ON MY VOWS AND TO WHATEVER GOD IS OUT THERE-” That was about the point that whatever composure that Parasimon had left evaporated on the spot, his already-twitching eyes bugging out of their sockets and his jaws finally opening to mime and swing along incoherently with his now-manically screaming disembodied voice: “COME BACK OUT HERE BEFORE I KILL MYSELF EARLY”

“Alright, alright, calm down.” Although broken by what was obviously restrained laugher, Examon’s voice audibly emerged from his body this time as he regained control from Alphamon. “Gotta give it to you, you got that out to her in fewer words than I did.” Alphamon’s smile, however, remained and threatened to crumble into the same guffawing laughter as Dorugoramon’s as Examon struggled to hold it in.

“I hate you. I hate you so, so much, you overgrown lizard.” Parasimon seemed anything but amused, but his composure noticeably improved as Examon assumed control back. At the very least, he limited himself to glaring at the Dragon Emperor rather than try to assault him with his eyeballs, and his voice returned to a normal volume and pitch as his jaws closed back up. Letting out a deep breath to dispel the overwhelming disgust that was gnawing at him, he turned and pointed to Dorugoramon. “No wonder she’s so angry, she has to deal with you idiots all the time.”

“Glad to know that you understand me now.” Dorugoramon, having finally stopped laughing, replied with an amused smile as she gradually regained her composure. The chance to laugh her angry heart out seemed to help her to mellow out somewhat, but that would most likely last only until Moon=Millenniummon was back in her sights.

“I don’t blame her either, for what it’s worth.” Examon’s repressed laughter finally released itself as a darker, more restrained chuckle. Parasimon and Dorugoramon’s words, however inadvertently, got him back on track to the matter at hand: Siggy’s situation.

“But anyway- you guessed right.” Examon coughed, and straightened up the best he could. Seemed that, in the last few moments, enough control over his body had returned to let him stand steadily and move about. “Alphamon’s stepped in to ease control over the biomerge because Siggy hasn’t come to yet.” He sighed, trying not to let the dark expression creeping up his face to completely take hold. “I don’t know how long he’ll be or how well me and Alphamon can coordinate without him. But we can’t wait around to find out, especially with what we’ve seen.”

“At a time like this, I sure as fuck wish there’s anything we can do to help,” Dorugoramon snarled, her anger returning with the serious mood. It was safe to say that she was speaking for more than just herself. “Still, with Alphamon watching your back, at least you’re back up. That’s better than being an unconscious dead weight on the ground, like what we did not too long ago.”

“Honestly, as horrifying as this all is, I agree.” Parasimon sighed, trying to compose himself fully again as he tried to weigh in. “At least with the First in there with you, you can move and fight. After the shit I saw in my own trance, I’m not sure if I can blame your human for being stuck out there. You and me, we’re old bastards with nothing much to lose, and by all measure we barely made it out. Humans or not, I’m surprised any of you kids made it out of there intact to begin with.”

Parasimon paused, as his words made him remember what he’d been ready to tell Dorugoramon before they discovered Examon active again. Once again, he debated the logic of mentioning anything about it; and once again, as he’d just said, he decided he had nothing to lose.

“I know it’ll take time for you to get your shit together without your partner up and about in there, even with the First. You’re not a sitting duck until then, but even so- if the worst comes to the worst, I’ll take one for you from that thing up there.”

“... What?” Examon stared at the insect Knight. His experience in his temporal torpor had reminded him that Parasimon wasn’t as clear cut as he presented himself in any respect, but this was a strange turn even with that in mind. Where did this come from? “Parasimon, what the fuck are you-”

“I don’t make it past the end of this.” But Examon didn’t get the chance to finish, as the steel-faced Parasimon clarified. Seeing the Dragon Emperor freeze up in shock at his words, he paused: and then continued. No sighs this time, just cool resolve. “At least, I don’t make it in any outcome worth gunning for. That thing told me one thing while I was in there, and I got the message loud and clear. If I survive the battle, it’s at the cost of us losing. Of both worlds and god knows how many others going up in flames.”

“You’re not seriously letting it get into your head, right?” Parasimon was far from what Dorugoramon would consider to be a friend, but even she found this news to be distressing. When she noticed the look of resignation in his eyes, however, the metallic dragon snarled and roared as her tail flicked hard enough for the sharp tip to slash the road underneath, creating a large gash where it cut through the road like hot knife through butter. “Dammit! Are you seriously telling me you’re fine with this?!”

“I’ve tried, but there’s no escaping the facts.” If Parasimon was moved by Dorugoramon’s words, he didn’t show it: the steely look on his face seemed to be there to stay. “If I live, the world dies in my place. If I die... nothing’s guaranteed, but we might just be able to make it to see another day.” He took a deep breath, looking between the stunned Examon and the emotional Dorugoramon. “But more than anything else, what got me through- what got me out of there- is that this is how it needs to be. I’ve done some awful things in my time, more than I could ever possibly set right. This won’t even make a dent in that, but that doesn’t matter. We can’t that thing win, and if I can make sure that doesn’t happen- make sure the world has the chance to heal from everything we did to it- I’ll gladly offer myself up to make that happen.”

“... So be it.” And unlike Dorugoramon, Examon nodded. “Fight to the end with us.”

Admittedly, Dorugoramon was the outsider among the two former members of the Royal Knights, but she knew that their previous status played no part in what she considered to be an asinine decision. “Examon, just what the hell are you thinking?” the incredulous dragon had to consciously hold her tongue lest she said something she would regret in her moment of anger, but her other half soon took that as a cue for her to speak.

“So long as you have no regrets, do what you see fit.” Zei hadn’t uttered a word since learning that Siggy had yet to regain consciousness, but she had been listening to every word they said and she could understand the source of Parasimon’s resolute will. It was then that the dragon’s incredulity turned into sheer disbelief.

Once again, Examon nodded, this time to Zei.

“I hate this every bit as much as you do, Dorumon. The thought of losing even a single person more to that monster makes me want to throw up. But I saw things while I was in there, too- and as much as I hate what it means, I can’t hate what he’s saying.”

“Examon?” Parasimon spoke again, for the first time since he’d outed his knowledge of his fate.

“I spent a long time hating you for everything that happened while we were Knights, Parasimon.” Examon’s voice was heavy with emotion, almost all of which seemed directed at himself. “But now I know that I have to shoulder some of that hate for myself. All those years, I convinced myself I was helpless- and I convinced myself that you were just a monster on Imperialdramon’s leash. And maybe, just maybe if I’d actually tried treating you as a person instead of a thing, we could have stopped that mess before things ended up the way that they did.”

Examon looked up at the sky silently, before continuing. “I’m sorry, Parasimon. I failed everyone, you included. I might not be able to properly make that up to you, but I can at least honour you now.”

“Examon, for God’s sake.” Finally, Parasimon sighed. He’d been expecting a reaction from Examon when he decided to open up, but this was far past the pail. “You don’t need to apologize to me for anything. You don’t need to honour me either, this isn’t about-”

“I know. It’s about doing what needs to be done.” But Examon’s own steely gaze remained unbroken as he looked down from the sky to rest it upon Parasimon. “It scares me, really, how alike we are. You say you got through what you saw because this is how it needs to be? What got me through was the same decision. Make no mistake, Parasimon. I’m not apologizing to you for vanity. It’s a promise to not make the same mistakes I made all those years ago. A promise that when fate comes to us with its fangs bared, I’ll stand and fight instead of running away or burying my head in the sand. I wasn’t lying when I said that the thought of losing anyone else today makes me feel sick; so let me make something else clear. I’m not going to help you die. I’m accepting your help so we can put that thing in the ground together. If we die doing it, so be it. We’ll die doing the right thing, and maybe we’ll spare others that same fate.”

Once again, while Examon and Parasimon vented their feelings and determination, Zei remained as silent as the grave after having spoken her bit. Dorumon had expected her to fret about Siggy, but the human kept her maw shut and simply shifted control back to her before retreating to the darker part of their shared mad mind until such time when she could indulge on her feral desire. When she thought about it, at least Parasimon and Examon had something of a noble goal to drive their actions; neither she nor Zei had such a thing or even cared enough to have one anyway.

“Fine. If that’s how thing’s going to go, I might as well shut up,” Dorugoramon replied with a dark snarl. Yeah, fuck rational thought. Who needed it at a time like this? “Not even we care about what would become of us anyway, so it’s not our place to even question your decisions.”

Much like Zei, however, Parasimon was near-silent as Examon met his resolution with his own. Almost as if he’d returned to Moon=Millenniummon’s grasp, he stared, seemingly blankly, at his former nemesis.

“Good grief.” And then, against all odds and all logic, he broke out in laughter. Dark chuckles, but sincerely amused instead of mocking. “I don’t know what’s more ridiculous. What you just said, or the fact I’m agreeing with you.” Shaking his head, Parasimon collected himself and ceased his laughter before: “Alright, Examon, have it your way. Fate’s gonna eat me alive, but I might as well get stuck in its throat and choke it on the way down.”

“Just don’t go dying on my account, you bastard.” Examon nodded resolutely to Parasimon. “Come hell or high water, me and Alphamon will get through this, and I’m sure Siggy’ll be back with us before we know it.” And, turning to Dorugoramon, he added: “And I’m sure she knows that better than any of us.”

“Good point.” Dorugoramon mumbled under her breath. That point, she’d have to readily concede which might partly explain why Zei had remained mum about it.

Now that they had sorted majority of their excess baggages, she figured that it’d be a good time to steer them back to the main track. “Alright, if we’re going to take on that thing, we might as well regroup first. Five of us all nicely assembled is a good first step, but having everyone back together would be important if we want to stand a chance.”

“Right.” Parasimon nodded, before remembering the details he’d provided Dorugoramon with. It was best to let Examon know, as well. “The only one of you I haven’t seen or heard somehow is your speedy little blue friend. Dynasmon was with me when I found you here, and went off to find the other two while I grabbed this one.” To punctuate the point, he raised his spear and pointed it in the direction of the bay. “They went that way, if we head down we’d have a challenge to miss them.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Examon didn’t pry for further details, but couldn’t help but feel a knot of concern as Parasimon mentioned that UlforceVeedramon was unaccounted for. Whatever the case, staying here and asking questions wasn’t going to do them any good. So, he spread his wings and slowly took into the air, beckoning for Parasimon and Dorugoramon to follow as he began to pick up speed.

"I have to admit, those were some inspiring words." Hearing a dark chuckle behind him, Examon saw Parasimon catch up with him in an instant, carried by his strange new wings. Once again, the sentiment seemed genuine, but then the insect Knight had to add: "Shame you had to waste them on a dead piece of shit like me."

"You think so?" Examon couldn't help but laugh himself. He really did keep ending up in the most bizarre possible scenarios, from partnering with a human to taking up arms with the former Susanoomon of all goddamn people.

“"I don't.” Nonetheless, a moment passed and the laughter petered out, giving way to a more serious expression. “Like I said, Parasimon, it was the same decision that got us through what we saw. After all, if you were ready to throw your life away, why would you have come back?"

Well, they now had a new objective in hand and a clear consensus on finding UlforceVeedramon. While they had no leads on him right now, that was no excuse not to try and look for him. “Alright, looks like we’re all set,” Dorugoramon growled and, with a beat of her wings, took off with a leap to catch up with Examon and Parasimon. “Can we save the wooing and flirting until after we get everyone accounted for?”

“Well, I guess some things never change” Examon replied with a playful huff: but nonetheless, he picked up speed as Dorugoramon joined him. Within moments, the two dragons were forging ahead at high speed towards their destination, leaving their regrets and qualms behind them.

Along with Parasimon, who watched them go as he hovered upright, seemingly frozen in midair if not for the expression of bewilderment that slowly spread over his face.

“...” Try as he might, he couldn’t answer Examon’s question.

As Dirk awoke from a dreamless sleep, it was the sight of an unfamiliar sky that greeted him.

His mind as clear as that sleep, it was only instinct that bid him to rise, pulling himself up into a sitting position as his eyes blinked open: fortunately, his body and muscles seemed full of life and vigor, and he was conscious and comprehending within moments.

Not that there was much to be conscious and comprehending of. As he sat up and the strange grey sky above disappeared into his peripheral vision, there was a severe dirth of anything else to fill his sight: fine white sands stretched away into a seemingly infinite distance, whilst nothing else besides him seemed to occupy the space between them and the sky. And, as he moved his vision downwards, a lack of something else came to his attention.

Normally, Dirk might have reacted to the fact that he was as naked as the day he was born; but in that moment, something about it seemed oddly natural. Besides, it wasn’t as if there was anyone else around to see him.

“I guess the shock finally wore off. Didn’t take as long as I expected, I’ll give you that.”

At least, not until the voice appeared. Dirk looked up, and then sprung up to his feet with a start as he saw that company had arrived out of thin air.

“I suppose you have questions.” Said company was an unfamiliar man: elderly, but with a few streaks of red hair amongst the ocean of gray. A pair of sunglasses made his features hard to discern: he could easily have been Asian, Caucasian, or something else entirely. Dirk, however, was more interested in why he got to keep his clothes.

“Why am I naked?” One train of thought lead to another, and Dirk figured he might as well start with the obvious one. That same train of thought lead him to cover his crotch: being naked by his lonesome was one thing, but he didn’t want some weird old man checking him out.

“You don’t take your clothes with you when you die.” And the answer came as bluntly as possible, causing Dirk’s train of thought to derail and crash. “Good grief, all the questions you could have asked, and you lead with that one. They weren’t kidding about you being a dumbass before you died.”

What was this shitty old geezer talking about? He was dead? When? How? Why?

But as his thoughts began to move again, his memories moved alongside them. It was hazy, perhaps thankfully so, but he could make out the grisly details as they rushed back into his head. After getting away from that rabid mutt, he and Impmon had made it to that other shitty old man’s office: and it was there that-

“...!” Dirk’s hands instantly went to his neck, even as his throat went dry and clenched with horror at his realization. Perfectly smooth and unscarred: and, as he pulled his hands away and looked down at them, there wasn’t the faintest trace of any blood from a wound.

“But I suppose I could stand to be a bit clearer.” And the old man started up again. “This is the ideal state of your soul at the time of your death, free of blemishes and wounds. If you so wish, you could cover yourself with but a thought.” At that, he gestured to his own clothes: a business suit, with an open-collared shirt. “And I’d encourage you to do so. This is about as uncomfortable for me as it is for you.”

“Fuck off.” Christ, he just couldn’t catch a break today. “Alright, so I’m dead. Thanks for spelling that one out, pal. Now, if you don’t mind: where am I? How did I get here? And who the fuck are you? Because if you have anything to do with that stupid set of triangles or those assholes who take forever to say nothing, you can piss off right now and let me go to Hell in peace.”

“That’s more like it.” The man let out a ‘hmmph’ in amusement, and smiled with a lopsided, toothy grin. “Lucky for you, I don’t like keeping people hanging. To put it simply, you’re in the liminal space between your previous reality and the next. You’re here because whilst your body may have died, your partner’s is alive- at least, for now. Who I am doesn’t matter- and besides, the answer probably wouldn’t do you any good as you are now.”

“... Hell’s that supposed to mean?” Dirk could only manage that much as the man answered him. Something about him seemed irritatingly familiar, although he couldn’t put his finger on it. So, instead, he shook his head and clarified: “Liminal space? If I’m such a dumbass, dumb it down for me, buddy.”

“Right, I guess you didn’t survive long enough to figure your situation out beyond the basics.” The man shrugged. “I’ll let you off on that one, so I guess I owe you an explanation. A partnered Digimon will hatch from their egg with their memories intact, correct? A partnered human doesn’t have the same regenerative faculty, but their soul and consciousness can survive even if their body dies.”

“... So I’m a ghost now?” The man’s explanation was surprisingly sensible, although everything else left him feeling as confused as before. Everything about this entire situation was bizarre, and he was only just keeping up. And now, his most pressing concern was: “Am I stuck like this, then? You said there’s another reality?”

“This is just a halfway point between that world and yours, yes. If both the human and Digimon in a partnership die, they move to the next one and stay there until the universe decides that you’re needed.” At that, he added: “Of course, that means that so long as one lives, the other survives, whether they want to or not. I spent a long time waiting for my partner to join me, let me tell you that much.”

“Hold on.” Once again, Dirk was grateful for the clarity of the explanation given, but there was still a lot being left unexplained. “Your partner? You’re a Tamer? Were a Tamer?” But even beyond that: “How are you here if you moved on? Am I actually going to be stuck like this?”

“Relax, kid.” Mercifully, the man shook his head to disavow Dirk of that idea. “I’m here because I hitched a ride with your friend. Dynasmon reduced himself to an egg fighting Millenniummon. When it evolved to Moon=Millenniummon and created the spacetime cocoon, one of the Dynasmon from the next world stepped in to help: and I stepped in to help you.”

“You’re losing me here.” And straight back to nothing making sense. “What’s a Millenniummon? What’s a spacetime cocoon? And why is some shitty old man I’ve never met coming from some weird afterlife to help me?”

“Alright, let’s get this in one go. Millenniummon is the artificial Digimon that Masashi Takeda, the man who killed you, created to elevate Japan to the status of a global superpower. Once it starts developing an actual intellect, it becomes powerful enough to warp time and space even before it reaches its completed state: and if that ever happens, it becomes powerful enough to hop between realities and destroy them.”

“... Damn.” Now he wished he hadn’t asked.

“Thankfully, things aren’t as bleak as they seem.” But the old man didn’t so much as miss a beat after that horrifying explanation. “Before it fully forms, Millenniummon is as vulnerable as any other Digimon. If you and your friends can stop its current form- Moon=Millenniummon- from completing its transformation, your world will be safe: at least, until next time.” But then, his expression darkened behind his glasses. “If not... that’s when we come in.”

Before Dirk could question what he meant, the man raised his hand, and snapped his fingers. A moment later, and the world around them finally sprung into life.

The sky was the first to change: first shifting from steely gray to a bright, dazzling blue: and then, before Dirk knew it, the sands beneath them became more and more distant as he and the old man seemed to rush upwards into the heavens above. Countless miles of blue tore by, but Dirk felt nothing but amazement as they climbed further and further into the sky: amazement that only grew as they passed the blue entirely, breaching into the dark expanse of space as the very stars themselves gleamed in the sky above.

That amazement could only last so long, however. As he looked around, Dirk’s eyes fell upon what the man had meant to show him: and he felt them widen as his stomach churned.

Before them was the solar system: and near the centre, Earth lay ruined. The beautiful blue sphere was covered by vast, dark red and grey clouds of ash and flame that smothered everything that hadn’t yet died. And reaching up out of that cloud, almost seeming a part of it with how its awful body billowed and undulated with the power coursing through it, was a two-headed dragon. One moment, it was ‘small’ enough that it only peered over the top of the atmosphere that it had choked with dirt and fire. The next, it grew so large that the sphere it had emerged from was swallowed up entirely in its vast, dark entrails, and the moon similarly disintegrated as it passed through one of its two great claws like a mote of dust swallowed up by the wind. It only continued to grow with every given moment as more and more matter was absorbed into it, and soon, the entire expanse of the now-ruined solar system was filled, the light of of its four baleful eyes replacing the sun that it had devoured as it turned its gaze elsewhere.

Words failed Dirk as he gazed upon the scene. Amidst the infinite cascade of emotions that the sight provoked in him, he recognized one of them as similar to what he’d felt to look upon Kimeramon when it had first appeared before them all those months ago. But Kimeramon had still registered with him as a being, something they could overcome: this creature was different.

ZeedMillenniummon was. Takeda had hoped to create a new God to honour as the centrepiece of his restored nation: and he’d created a force of the universe that devoured and destroyed everything around it.

But then, a new light appeared: and Dirk’s mouth fell agape.

“Every time something like Millenniummon gets strong enough to endanger other realities, we step in to contain it.” As the man spoke, a new light appeared in the abyssal nightmare above them: one, and then many others following to surround the abomination that had swallowed up the star and its spheres. As they began to move in tandem, it became clear even without the man’s explanation that they were beings moving against the monstrosity: but their light was so brilliant that Dirk couldn’t discern anything about them. ZeedMillenniummon’s eyes lit up and the space around it filled with a deadly light for millions of kilometers around as it swatted at them with claws that ruptured nebulas and collapsed countless celestial bodies into clouds of smoke and dust with every swing. Every attack dealt irreparable damage and ravaged the universe around it: but against all odds, and against all of Dirk’s expectations, the lights around it only blazed brighter as they faded back in and out of reality to avoid the assault of their target, weaving around every hyperdestructive barrage like a trained fighter around the swings of a drunk.

“The moment it fully develops, it becomes too powerful for us to properly defeat.” The man’s tone was dark, by contrast. But then came the “However”. The lights gathered, becoming one collective prominence that nearly blinded Dirk and sent the abomination they were fighting reeling with an infinitely reverberating shriek and an attempt to cover its eyes: and in that very moment, he understood what the man meant.

In the one moment of hesitation that ZeedMillenniummon offered them, the collective body of lights drove themselves into the centre of its vast mass, disappearing deep into it. And then fresh, new light burst forth from the wound that they had left. ZeedMillenniummon’s shriek became a reality-warping roar that shook even the very frame of the universe around it: but another moment passed, and as the light formed into a distinct shape, so did the warping of the world around it cease. The beings of light emerged from the centre of the structure that they had installed into the abomination: before disappearing to a place beyond seeing.

And though ZeedMillenniummon lashed out and voiced its undying hatred for the beings that had confined it, it could not follow: the light had formed fully now, into chains of code that bound it tight, and kept it sealed in the universe that it had ruined.

“Of course, even if we stop the damage from spreading, countless people would have already died.” Once again, the sky changed: the scene of the wounded and imprisoned abomination fading back out into the steely gray of before. “By the time we move against it, it’s already too late: all we can do is make sure it stays in its own universe, and starves as everything goes cold. We can’t do anything to fully manifest against Millenniummon: but there are things we can do to turn the tide back before it strikes- and that’s why I’m here.” And the man turned to look directly at Dirk, his eyes clearly steeled and serious even behind his dark glasses. “If you get back out there, you can spare your world this fate. Dynasmon came because there was an opening for him. I came with him because someone had to get you back to your partner before it was too late. This may be all I can do: but even the slightest edge may be all you need to send that monster screaming back into oblivion.”

Once again, Dirk had too many questions. But this time, even he could tell that they didn’t matter: in the face of what he’d just seen, nothing mattered. “So I need to go find Impmon and stop this… thing from destroying the entire universe. We can do that, right?”

“It won’t be easy, but it’s possible.” The man nodded to Dirk. “In my time, someone told me that he got through his own encounter with Millenniummon by reminding himself of one simple fact. The world might change, and fate might come calling, but the future will always be there for you so long as you’re willing to fight for it.”

“No fate but what we make, right?” This time, it was Dirk’s turn to nod. “Alright, old man. All I need to do is get back out there, find Impmon, and victory’s as good as ours?”

“Like I said, it won’t be easy. But I know you- and everyone else- can make it.” But the dark expression on the old man’s face returned. “When you get out there, you’re going to see things. Even before you find your partner, you’re going to have to stand your ground. And from what you told me yourself: you’ve got a lot to answer for.”

“... Do I know you, old man?” Alright, even with the inspiration, something about the man seemed annoyingly familiar. It wasn’t just the reminder of his previous encounters with the mysterious entities of the Digital World: something about him seemed much more personally familiar. “Because you sure as hell seem to think you know me.”

“You may, or you may not. It all depends on whether you can make it through this fight.” But whatever the truth was, it didn’t seem like he was going to be privy to it. Instead, the dark expression softened and the man pointed to behind Dirk: and turning, he saw a breach appear in the otherwise blank world around them. “We’ll meet again, one way or another. Who knows. I might even get to tell you who I am if you’re ready enough by then.” That got the old man chuckling: but then he shook his head. “Now, go. They need you, and you need them.”

Through the breach, Dirk could see the state of the world he’d left behind: or, rather, he would have seen it, if not for the thick fog that swallowed it up. Already, he could tell that the man wasn’t trying to scare him as he stared into the portal to the developing hellscape. But fear had never stopped him before: and neither had common sense. They weren’t going to stop him now, not if the others needed him.

“You fucking better, you old geezer.” And with those last words, Dirk leapt through the hole between realities and back into the world of the living. And as it closed behind him, leaving the old man alone, it was with a slowly-fading farewell of “I swear, next guy who tries being vague with me is getting a boot so far up their ass-”
___
“Of course, turns out he wasn’t kidding.”

Beelzemon had completely dissociated from everything going on around him long ago. Even as pain from the situations his movement across the timeline landed him in continued to jolt at him, he could only remain in stunned silence as the voice of his dead partner spoke to him.

“When I first got here, I ended up in the same situation you’re in now.” Without a body of his own, Dirk couldn’t shiver or shudder at the recollection: but his tone of voice was enough to suggest that what he’d seen had shaken him to his core. “But after some time, I made it through and got to you. Moon=Millenniummon… Hah. Old geezer was right about something else. It’s not impossible to beat. It may be powerful, and it may be smart, but it doesn’t understand other living beings. It doesn’t understand that people don’t see things in black and white: or let facts get in their way.”

Beelzemon couldn’t glare at the voice, but he let his silence speak for him. After the initial shock of the voice identifying itself faded, indignance had rushed in to replace it: so, the idiot hadn’t quite got himself killed, after all. That was one thing, leaving him stuck with a simpleton that even death couldn’t rid him of, but the bullshit he’d proceeded to spew after identifying himself was another.

“You expect me to believe any of this crap?” For the first time in a while, Beelzemon broke his silence to directly scorn Dirk. “No one Digimon could be that powerful! This is just an illusion, and soon as I’m out of it I’m gonna stick my claws down that damn cat’s throat and take my Crest back, leave all those other idiots to clear up while I enjoy my freedom.”

“No, you’re not.” Dirk wasn’t shaken by his partner’s response. “I didn’t want to believe it, either, but he was right. Even now, can’t you feel everything that’s happening to you? This is more than an illusion. This thing’s got the fabric of time and space in its grubby little hands, and if we sit around wasting any more time, it’ll be tearing them up. Stop pretending to be something you’re not and-”

“Something I’m not? What the fuck do you know about me?” But neither was Beelzemon by Dirk’s words. “I told this to the cat and his little buddy, but you only met the me that that asshole made when he sealed my memories away. This is who I am, you worthless sack of meat: I am Beelzemon, the Demon Lord of Gluttony.” If it were possible, he’d be spitting with rage and disgust. ”Your worthless friend was just a fake someone thought they could control long enough t-”

“Bullshit.”

Beelzemon paused. As blindingly angry as he was, there was no mistaking the conviction in that voice.

“Excuse me?”

“You may have lost your memories, but the Digimon I knew all these months was no fake. You’re just like I was, Beelzemon. Putting up barriers and refusing to be sincere because you’re tired of losing, tired of being hurt. Why do you think we got stuck together?”

“Ridiculous. What have I got to hide? Life bit me, so I bit back: and I bit it so hard that nobody had the balls to fuck with me.” Now Beelzemon was sure that Dirk was bluffing. “Trusting others only ever holds you back- or worse, gets you killed! I got dragged into the Dark Area with all those idiots and savages, and you got your head cut off. The difference is, I picked myself back up and got on my own two feet. What about you? All you ever did was get yourself hurt again and again, never learning anything!”

“You’re wrong-”

“You kept charging into danger, treating your life like it wasn’t worth anything- you almost got me killed too, with that stupid fucking stunt you pulled with Omegamon!”

“Beelzemon, listen-”

“You bared your heart to that stupid girl, chasing after her like an animal after a meal, and then acted like it was her fault that you were stupid enough to expect something in return- like you didn’t deserve it for being such a sniveling little shit.”

“Please, listen-”

“Hell, like I said! Only reason you’re here right now is because you were stupid enough to get yourself killed!” Frothing at the mouth all but in reality, Beelzemon finished. “Don’t you ever compare yourself to me. I made my own way in life, expecting nothing but what I could take with my own two hands. You’re just some shitty little brat who had his big break fall into his lap and expected everything to fall into place after that. A little rat that got itself killed biting off more than it could chew!”

“... You’re right.”

“Hmmph.” Beelzemon huffed triumphantly. “See, that wasn’t h-”

“No, you’re right about me.” But Dirk was quicker: and this time, the conviction returned to his voice, even as it began to crack with emotion. “Like I said, Beelzemon, I saw things when I came back to the world, too. All that time I convinced myself I was being strong, doing what nobody else could so that they didn’t have to- I was being selfish. I wanted people to care about me on my own terms, see me how I wanted them to see me. Everything I did, I did to make that happen: to keep them from seeing the real me. I hurt myself to convince them that I was strong enough to take it. To convince myself the same thing. And you know what? It’s exactly what you did, you bastard.”

Once again, Beelzemon growled with fury. But Dirk was having none of it.

“Taking and doing what you want, consequences be damned- you think it makes you strong? It makes you a coward, using power to hide from reality. To hide from your real feelings. Just like me, you hurt yourself and others to convince yourself that you weren’t weak: but you realized that, eventually, didn’t you?”

Beelzemon readied himself to roar back. But then he felt himself freeze up. The dissociation he’d forced himself into as he yelled back and forth with the voice of his former Tamer gave way to the recreated reality of Moon=Millenniummon’s temporal prison.

And all words failed him as he beheld what awaited him.
___
The sight of the Dark Area was nothing new to Beelzemon. An entire world lurking beneath the surface of a sphere distant from its star: the recreation of the ancient Digital World’s subterranean landscape, vast, dark and cold if not for the efforts of those who were imprisoned there to make it habitable. In the distance, the fires and lights of desperate settlements lit up the otherwise-impenetrable darkness that surrounded them on all sides, illuminating stalagmites and stalagmites that jutted up and down for lengths of entire kilometers.

But the light that bore down on Beelzemon now, freezing his soul with terror, was all on account of the being that looked down on him. The creature’s golden, dazzling brilliance obscured details of its form, perhaps intentionally: but there was no mistaking what its figure resembled, nor the structure that spread down from the void that opened behind it.

“I will be clear with you, my child. I have not approached you because of your strength.”
The giant spider’s mandibles remained stationary as it spoke: the voice that washed over the Demon Lord before it emanated from some disembodied psychic wavelength, much like that of Examon and that abominable insect they’d fought. “If I sought the most powerful of your pack, I’d have not given you a second thought before Lucemon caught my eyes.”

“Then why?” Beelzemon began to speak, even as the Beelzemon of the present was rendered speechless by the awesome, awful sight before him. “Why me?”

“Because I see something in you, child.” Extending a metallic, ornate limb, the being pressed it to Beelzemon’s head before he could even perceive the movement: and although the Beelzemon of the present only winced at the phantom pain, he soon froze as his past self screamed with pain and anguish.

“The others may have their qualms, but they’ve chosen their paths.” The golden spider was unmoved, even as Beelzemon collapsed to his knees. “But you’re different. A glutton, only destroying and consuming to fill a void within yourself. You’ve made your bed, and you’ve laid in it, as you mortals say: but I wonder if you’d make the same mistakes if I gave you a second chance?”

“... So this is what you meant?” Beelzemon’s torpor was interrupted by the return of Dirk’s voice. The change in surroundings seemed to have caught him off-guard as well: the conviction in his voice was now overshadowed by horror akin to Beelzemon’s own. “This... thing got to you?”

“...No… This isn’t how I remember…” Beelzemon finally found his voice again:

“Please.” But the desperate, begging plea of his past self stopped him cold once more. “I know I don’t deserve it, but I’m sick of this! I’m sick of hurting people, and I’m sick of devouring everything!” Beelzemon felt his stomach clench: not from the horror he was feeling, but from shame and remorse. “And I’m sick of watching the same happen to everyone else around me, watching them turn into monsters more and more with every passing day! Please, if you’ve decided against helping them, at least let me!”

“It’s like I said.” Dirk sounded shaken too: whatever truth he’d realized, seeing it laid bare was frightening. “It’s not an illusion, it’s the past, exactly as it happened.”

“Very well, then.” And the spider spoke once more, as countless webs of light erupted from the point on Beelzemon’s head that it had touched. Both Beelzemon, past and present, screamed: but to no avail as the webs enveloped him amidst the angry burning of his Crest. “I will grant you reprieve from here, and set you loose to make a fresh start. Come, child. There is much work to be done.”

And the world changed once again as Beelzemon’s consciousness faded out.
___
“... I wasn’t quite expecting that.”

“Just go away.” Beelzemon couldn’t even force himself to be angry any more. Sounding more weak and defeated by the moment, all he could muster up was: “I started off weak, and nothing ever changed. Just let me rot in here, then maybe I won’t feel it when that thing kills me.”

He heard Dirk sigh, but didn’t respond. He was about to dissociate back into blissful ignorance, when-

“There’s no running this time, you little rat.”

Beelzemon flinched: but then froze up anew. That voice didn’t belong to Dirk. No, that was-

Words failed him as he focused on his surroundings and confirmed his fears. Wherever he was, his vision was fully consumed by the dark shape that pinned him to the ground. Two silver limbs, a distressing synthesis of anthropoid and arthropod, gripped his arms and pulled them to either side with force just shy of sufficient to shatter his bones and dislocate his joints. Beyond them, eight legs rested stationary, each one’s silhouette clear enough to reveal the bizarre jaw-like structures that adorned the topmost joint of each. Behind the sheer bulk of its face and his own failing vision, the body that made up the remainder of the being was obscured: but the dark blue mask-like crest that rested atop that face and the two sigils etched into it in red and green were sufficient to identify the being and instill the appropriate amount of fear.

“... Beelzemon, is this thing anything to do with what we just saw?” Even Dirk couldn’t mask the horror that the sight instilled in him. There was no escaping it: the very presence of the monstrous being radiated menace that sent both of their instincts ablaze.

“Killing me isn’t going to accomplish anything, Yinzhumon.” But miraculously, that fear didn’t seem to extend to the version of Beelzemon pinned by the monstrous silver spider. If anything, he seemed tired of the sight of him. “He used us both. Like it or not, we have to own up to that fact.”

“That’s all well and good for you, but it changes nothing for me.” Miraculously indeed, as the space beneath the being’s mask opened up to reveal a pair of massive fangs: and grotesque, seemingly infinite rows of lamprey-like teeth behind them, a horrible mouth that let out a low, angry growl in an animalistic tone entirely divorced from the creature’s disembodied voice. “That bastard’s taken something important to me- something important to the both of us.” At that, a second, unfamiliar voice overlaid itself on on Yinzhumon’s scarily smooth tone. A moment later, however, it disappeared as the spider continued. “So talk, Beelzemon. Before you become the second Lord of Gluttony who only wished I’d killed them.”

“Look, I don’t know anything more than you-” Yinzhumon tightened his grip at that, and Beelzemon barely held his composure together as those terrible fangs began to glisten with a black essence- “But listen to me.” And yet, the Beelzemon of that time was unshaken, even as he grimaced at the pain. “I lost my own Tamer, once- and even if he’s not gone, I remember how it felt- what it did to me. Those kids- yours and Chronomon’s. We still have a chance to save them.”

“Not for long, if you don’t talk.” Yinzhumon let out another animalistic growl of rage. Only this time, his smooth tone cracked with the same rage: and what seemed to be a hint of anguish, as he tightened his grip enough to finally squeeze one of Beelzemon’s arms from his socket.

“Fuck!” And finally, Beelzemon’s own composure came close to matching that of his present self as he let out a scream of his own. “Christ, when did you get so goddamn emotional?” And again, as the other Beelzemon continued to tempt the fate hanging above him.

But against all logic, the grip of those disturbingly human pedipalps loosened. And then Yinzhumon spoke again, in a softer tone.

“He said what’s common nature for mortals is a disease for the likes of him and I, right?” The fangs retracted, and the jaws beneath the mask closed up again as the spider sighed. “I don’t see it quite the same way, but I’ve been infected all the same. It’s not just those kids- it’s everyone I’ve met since I woke up again. And I’ll let Daemon burn me down to nothing again before I let that bastard wipe all that away for his ridiculous ideas.”

“Then let me help you.” And this time, as the other Beelzemon spoke, it was in a similarly soft tone. “I may not know any more than you about where that monster took them- but I remember how it felt to lose my own Tamer. No-one deserves to feel that way, and if I can do anything to spare them it, I will. I know what being around humans does to things like us, Yinzhumon: you’ve nothing to be ashamed of.”

“... This can’t be real.” And the present Beelzemon spoke for the first time since he’d realized what was happening.

And yet, he felt Yinzhumon finally release his grip as, terrifyingly enough, the spider began to chuckle. “Never said I was ashamed, Beelzemon.” Slowly, but surely, the spider’s silver body rippled and began to melt away, retracting back into a smaller body that began to form before the Demon Lord’s eyes. “They said I shouldn’t be so quick to distrust people- and maybe that’s another part of them that I have to take to heart. I have to say, at the very least, I never thought I’d feel guilty for breaking your arm.”

“Don’t sweat it.” The other Beelzemon’s tone was slightly gingery, but he managed a chuckle of his own as a black aura stitched the broken bone back together in an instant, and as he climbed back up to his feet to face the newly-formed humanoid figure before him. “What can I say, time makes fools of us all.” And then, as he shook his head to compose himself, he added the words that finished the present Beelzemon off once and for all.

“I never thought I’d actually be happy to rely on someone else.”
____
Wherever or whenever Beelzemon’s timeline took them to after that, it didn’t matter. As his meeting with Yinzhumon faded out, both he and Dirk fell quiet for a while: both waiting for the other to break the silence.

“I’m sorry, Dirk.” And with a voice strained with emotion, and finally cracked down to a soft, tired tone Beelzemon- no, Impmon was first to go. “I’m so, so sorry.”

The colour and motion of their surroundings slowed down and faded out. Static swallowed up Impmon’s vision, and gigantic cracks blasted through the increasingly obscured world to let the light of reality back in, a figure became visible to him at long last: a figure as welcome as the light itself.

“Don’t be.” And with rare tears running down his face, Dirk managed a smile despite the emotion he was awash with. “Welcome back, you little idiot.”

“Alright, let’s… ignore all the implications of this for now and focus on what’s important. Not letting that thing blow up the universe.”

Getting back on their feet again wasn’t the smoothest affair in the world, but Dirk and Belzemon managed before long. Whatever the nature of their situation, it seemed that the return of Dirk’s soul and consciousness to Beelzemon afforded them similar function to a Biomerge: with the two working in tandem, it was just like old times.

“Right.” Despite Beelzemon’s attempt at strength in concision, Dirk felt their stomach churn aggressively as real physical sensation returned. They were both still shaken from the trauma of the last few hours, however hard they tried to fight past it. “Last I saw, the others all made it past killing it the first time- BanchoLeomon probably could have soloed it himself with how badly I pissed him off before.”

“... Come again?”

“... Right, you weren’t there for that. Long story, don’t ask.” Dirk felt their stomach clench again at Beelzemon’s words. Then, however, came some clarity: “The shock of… that was what set me off. Imagine what happened a few months ago, but worse.”

“Okay, I get the picture.” Maybe not asking was the better option after all. Old habits died hard, and Dirk figured he could go back to amateur psychiatry later. “But if the others are around, we can try and track them down before it’s too late. Any idea where we can find them?”

“Last I saw any of them up close, they were still fighting them. Where they could have gone after that is anyone’s guess.” Beelzemon groaned. Maybe he should have just stayed in the trance after all. “I don’t know, Examon sticks out like a sore thumb wherever he goes, maybe we can-”
Beelzemon never quite got to finish his sentence. With stealth entirely unbecoming of such a massive form, a dark shape emerged from the thick fog nearby, freezing in place as myriad violent lights fixed themselves upon the Demon Lord below. Sensing the presence, Beelzemon froze too: and then sprung to life with a start at the sound of the voice that met him.

“... Excuse me, but where the fuck have you been, you fickle little bastard?” Parasimon asked, his appearance halfway between a ray of light in the dark and the appearance of a swarm of locusts.
---

BanchoLeomon was well on his way back over towards Examon’s location, leaping across rooftops and debris when his attention was diverted with a quick look down at the streets.

“When did you grow a goddamn conscience, you rotten old fascist? Before or after you nuked the entire Digital World into compliance?”

“At least I grew one in time to step up. I’ll ask you again, Demon Lord. Where the fuck have you been while we’ve risked everything?”

Parasimon confronting...Beelzemon?! That crazy bastard was back?

With a scowl, BanchoLeomon landed against the side of a building, kicking off with both feet and crashing down onto the street next to Parasimon, giving the Demon Lord a death glare.

“Really? You want round two? Now? I’ll be honest, I’m surprised your arm’s back this fast. But without that Crest of yours...you really want to waste our time when there’s bigger fish to fry?”

At BanchoLeomon’s arrival, several of Parasimon’s eyes darted to watch him while the others remained trained on Beelzemon. Something about his words seemed… suspect? Had he missed something along the way?

That impression only got stronger as Beelzemon jumped back in.

“Oh thank god, Lucas, Leomon.” The Demon Lord that the Knight had been squabbling with seemed to give way to the human sharing a body with him. “Look, there’s a lot to explain-”

“Oh, right. We can start with why you snapped and started killing civilians.” BanchoLeomon spat, his fists clenched. “An even FUCKING dozen, you homicidal ape.”

“... Hold on, what?” Parasimon’s bemused expression of confusion was echoed by a wide-eyed response from the human behind Beelzemon’s eyes: but before either the insect or the lion interrogating him had the chance to follow up, the Demon Lord himself was back in control.

“Look, I know full well I can’t run from what happened, with or without you reminding me of it.” Beelzemon’s attempt at sounding defiant was undermined by the queasy edge to his voice, the renewed memory of what had happened threatening to turn his uneasy stomach to outright volatility. “But, like you said, we have bigger fish to fry.”

“Seriously, did I miss another civil war?” Parasimon felt more and more out of his depth with every passing moment.

BanchoLeomon narrowed his eyes. “I don’t have a reason to believe you. What’s stopping you from stabbing me in the back during the middle of the fight just to get your Crest back? Which I’m not trusting you with, by the way. Damn thing doesn’t even work for me.”

“You can keep the rotten fucking thing, I-” A mixture of nausea and fury turned Beelzemon’s voice into a shaky mess: but he stopped speaking before he could finish. Freezing in place, his face remained in a combination of readiness to scream and vomit for a few seconds, before he took a deep, shaky breath and collected himself.

And then he spoke in a tone and timbre unmistakable to either Lucas or Leomon.

“He won’t, because I’m here.” Dirk answered for the both of them.

“Congratulations,” BanchoLeomon drawled, without missing a beat. “You can mimic the voice of a dead man. I know you completely snapped when it happened, but I was there too.”

“Christ, you’re as stubborn as always.” Dirk’s frustration seemed a lot more even than Beelzemon’s, and he quickly bounced back with: “Lucas, you said that when you first met Leomon, he was born again from an egg, didn’t you?”

The leonine Digimon narrowed his eyes, Lucas’s voice coming out of his mouth. “How’s it feel that Siggy’s probably got a bigger dick than you?”

Parasimon rolled his eyes. Mammals and their reproductive organs, honestly. “Look, I don’t know the ins and outs of your group’s politics, but is this really-”

“Hey, fuck off, it’s a solid eight inches if you look at it from the right angle!” But the blow struck home. Frustration became outright indignance, and Dirk’s voice completely engulfed the slight hints of Beelzemon’s own.

BanchoLeomon blinked at that, looking poleaxed. “I saw your head get cut. Off. How the hell are you alive?!” He glanced aside to Parasimon. “How else am I going to be able to tell if he’s lying?”

“... Point conceded,” Parasimon deadpanned to BanchoLeomon as he stared at Beelzemon losing his mind over the slight on his private parts. Really, he should have expected this by now.

“Don’t you go conceding it, you don’t even have one!” It seemed that it had done more than confirm that he wasn’t lying: it looked like it had distracted Dirk from the point entirely. “Hell, if I wasn’t a ghost right now, I’d wop it out on the-” But once again, he froze up: and a moment later, with a shake of his head, it was Beelzemon himself back in control.

“Okay, settle down, five and a half.” Beelzemon groaned, before turning his attention back to BanchoLeomon. “Right, so as he was saying before you brought… that up, I think it’s similar to how Leomon came back when you two first met.” He took a deep breath. “The Digivices can’t completely reconstruct a human’s body like it does for us when we revert to eggs, but it can preserve them as some kind of ghost. There was some more to this, but I don’t even think I understand that. Ask pineapple-head when he’s done overcompensating.”

“...You’re stuck like that, then.” BanchoLeomon took back over from Lucas, nodding. “The situation’s bad enough right now that I’ll shelve the previous incident for now. We need all the help we can get. I’ll talk to MirageGaogamon about it as well. If...when we make it through this, we’ll get back to the matter.” He stepped up to Beelzemon, leaning in close to the Demon Lord’s face. “One hint that you’ve been lying the whole time and using Dirk’s memory, though...and I’ll make you wish you died half an hour ago.”

“Right.” Beelzemon nodded, relieved that they were back on a relatively even heel at last. “After what we’ve seen, you don’t have anything to worry about there- let’s just get back to the others before it’s too late.”

“I was with Examon and… whatever the other big angry dragon’s name is just before I foud you two.” At that point, Parasimon chimed in, the volume of his voice snatching the conversation into his corner. “I fell behind because… well, I fell behind, but I know the direction that they were headed in. Dynasmon is in the same rough direction and I think it’s the same for the other two, but first things first-”

Parasimon paused. Performing the telepathic equivalent of taking a deep breath, the giant insect collected himself-

“Can one of you please explain what happened before I got here?” And took fire at the elephant in the room with all the power that he could muster. “Because one moment I’m shouting at the Demon Lord for deserting, and the next it looks like I missed another goddamn civil war. I swear, the deeper in I get with you humans, the more I think the Sovereigns had a tighter grip on things.”

“... So after that, Dirk managed to contact me and get me back to full functionality.”

With BanchoLeomon unable to fly and Moon=Millenniummon’s exact consciousness of its surroundings still unclear, the group that had formed out of him, Beelzemon and Parasimon had opted to travel close to ground level. Being so much larger than the other two Digimon, Parasimon still chose to glide along in order to remain concealed under the fog and the nearby buildings, but Beelzemon followed the lion along the ground as he did his best to explain what had happened between their fight and his return to lucidity.

“I can’t quite remember what he said, and he’s still too pissed off to be of any help- did you have to rub salt in the wound there?” Beelzemon didn’t exactly feel sorry for Dirk in that regard, all things considered- God only knew how awkward that whole situation had been for Zei- but Dirk might as well still be dead with all the help he was being after that. “But I remember something he said about being contacted by some extra-dimensional force- some old man that told him that that crystal up there is metamorphosing into something that could destroy the entire universe? ZeedMillenniummon, he said it was called. A two-headed dragon as big as the planet, if not bigger.”

“Great.” BanchoLeomon grumbled, still not pleased with any part of this situation. “So what’s the plan, then? Because I doubt that just three of us are enough to crack that thing. Most of the others should have broken free by now, I think. I haven’t exactly told anyone about you snapping, didn’t have the time. Except MirageGaogamon, since he was there. Dunno if you’ve run into him yet. Might be just a bit pissed at you too.”

“No, but honestly? Fuck that guy.” Dark Digivolution or no Dark Digivolution, Beelzemon could do without having to deal with Examon’s Captain again.

“I think that’s the only thing you’ve ever said that I’ve agreed with.” Parasimon had been relatively quiet up until this point as he followed the conversation between the two partnered Digimon below, but the comment about the other Knight amused him enough to snort with laughter. “Like I said, the only one of you bastards I haven’t seen or heard somehow since I woke up is the speedy little blue shit- Examon, Dynasmon and that other dragon, I’ve all spoken to, and I heard the rat screaming like a madman the moment I came to.”

“UlforceVeedramon and WarCapidramon, you mean?” Beelzemon chided in tersely.

“Whatever, I never learned half of your names and I sure as hell ain’t starting now.” Parasimon shrugged. He felt a little bit guilty about never learning the name of Examon’s friend, considering he liked her a whole lot more than the Knight she’d played host to, but that was a moot point now. “What I will start on, soon as we find the others, is putting that thing up there in the ground.” Examon’s final words to him cut into his thoughts again, and he struggled to push them from his mind.

“Honestly, I don’t really care if you learn our names or not. You’re here, you’re helping to kill the big bastard in the sky. That’s what matters.” BanchoLeomon cut in, trying to shut the argument down before he glanced at Beelzemon. “So considering Zei, Dorumon, Leon, and Veemon literally saw Dirk headless...I’m not explaining that mess. Have fun.”

“... Right, shit.” At long last, Beelzemon’s voice receded from the body he shared with his Tamer as Dirk emerged again. “I know things didn’t go too badly, considering you guys managed to kill Millenniummon once, but- how badly did I fuck up?”

BanchoLeomon stayed silent for several moments, quietly debating how to handle this. First things first, he needed Dirk and Beelzemon functional and ready to fight. Them freezing up upon realizing how badly things went was counterproductive. “Not badly enough to completely screw us. You want specifics, we can talk about it when we’re not all in danger of imminent death.”

“I mean, if he’s telling the truth, you’ve all good a good chance of surviving.” Parasimon had remained mostly silent when Beelzemon mentioned the revival clause of the Digivices, but now finally spoke up on the matter. He and BanchoLeomon didn’t have the best history, but their mutual pragmatism and desire to put away the entities endangering both worlds had worked them into the status of odd bedfellows- so he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to speak frankly. “I’d be less worried about us and more worried about everyone else.”

“Volunteering yourself, are we?” Dirk asked sarcastically. Perhaps it was his own epiphany and the implications of his own actions speaking, but the implications of the Knight’s words made him uneasy on a deep, violent level.

“Yes.” Parasimon spoke with chilling force on the matter. “That’d be a small price to pay to see that thing dead.”

“I don’t know about you, but I intend to live to tell about this.” BanchoLeomon grunted. “We can worry about hypothetical sacrifices later. Priority right now is to regroup with the others. Am I clear?”

“... Right.” Parasimon’s presence still made Dirk and Beelzemon uncomfortable, but they supposed they had to roll with it for now. Although, the severity of the conversation and the situation jolted the former memory, and he gathered himself as he continued: “Right, that old bastard mentioned that another Dynasmon came back with him- if we can grill him for info, we might be able to get somewhere with this.”

“Yeah, when I found Dynasmon, he mentioned something about being… ‘different’.” Parasimon had brushed it off as the usual cryptic bullshit he was so used to from everyone around him at the time, but in light of the Demon Lord and Tamer’s explanations, the other Knight’s words were starting to take on a different dimension. “Look, the cat’s right. We can find the others, we can work out a plan, and then we can roll the dice.” Regardless of how fucked or not he really was, there was no sense in charging in recklessly. “I know we can win this, one way or another.”

The Earth Beast Digimon ceased his senseless howling. The fog seemed to have the uncanny ability to deaden sounds, or perhaps that was the debris that was all around. As Rodendramon stalked closer to the city, a stream of sand and rubble dragged itself behind him, slithering up and into the Mega's armor. Said earthen compounds were then left in a dry patch with every step.

The Biomerged Digimon began to scan its head around, sniffing at the air, crouched as it paused between steps. Its tail dragged along the ground, sparking with the armor that laced it, as did the metalized claws with each step, as they scraped against the asphalt with each forward pull of his limbs. Large, grey wings dragged on the ground as the moroseness of isolate set in on the Digimon.

Things felt strangely silent with no one else around. The beast's back arched, visibly agitated by this, eyes narrowing, teeth bared in a snarl. From a distance, this would be seen merely as aggression. However, upon closer inspection, the twitching of his nose, the curl of his lip, the rapid motions of the eye. No, this was fear. Not knowing when the enemy would strike, if it knew where you were, if your attacks could even harm it, where any allies were- it was terrifying.

At that moment, the beast caught a whiff of a scent. A familiar scent. Three of them. One, an ally. Another Beast type Digimon, and a Nature Spirit at that, much like himself- this was a relief. Rodendramon snarled, a gurgling, acidic sound, as a dark scent was detected, intermingling with the first. Two other scents were also there, one chitinous, viral, acrid. Parisimon. The third- a Nightmare Soldier. A Demon Lord.

The Earth deity's wings beat, sending a dusty wash of air swirling around itself. With a deeper, louder snarl, he began to stalk in the direction of the scents. His reactions were mixed, as were those of the minds inside him. A friend, a foe, and an anomaly. One who, by all accounts, had no right to be here. What little tactical acumen the beast possessed assumed some sort of mêlée à trois had begun. Only time and proximity would tell.

The red glow of molten stone shone through the slits of armor that rimmed Rodendramon's eyes. The beast stalked ever closer, approaching what he could only assume was additional prey. Most likely, it was also easier prey. The seems of the armor flickered with gouts of flame, as the Pyro Raid was released once again. Instead of flying off, however, the swarm of incendiary vermin stayed put. As they began idly pawing at their invisible whiskers, Rodendramon began to strike the earth, burrowing under the street. As the Digimon's tail passed the chasm's mouth, it sealed with the earth that was displaced, creating a closed tunnel beneath the road. At this, the phantom flame rats began to sniff at the air, alerting Rodendramon of the scents' positions, should they change. It wasn't entirely reliable, but would give him a touch of the element of surprise.

This plan was far from flawless. With such intense and unconventional excavation going on, the ground would likely rumble and shift. Secondly, the small pack of burning rats weren't exactly hard to see coming either. It did, however, let the rodential Digimon hide from where the true first strike would come. As the approach became imminent, Rodendramon could hear muffled, but familiar voices from above.

The beast's armored jaw unclamped, as fragments of growing stone began to collect there, taking on an unearthly green hue. He then dug upwards, breaking the crust above and emerging in the general vicinity of the three.
Declared the Mega, launching a sizable boulder of green mineral straight into the air, before it disintegrated within the fog- a warning shot.
And then, there was a moment to react, as the Beast surveyed its surroundings, emerging from the hole and beating its wings, shaking off the flakes of broken pavement.

With the speed of their movement towards the assumed location of Dynasmon, Examon and Dorugoramon hadn’t noticed Parasimon’s disappearance from their midst until the Knight was too far from them for their senses to place him in the thick fog. When they arrived at the docks with very little to greet them, they decided it was time to talk strategy.

“Nothing on your end?” Examon kept his shield engaged, conscious and cautious of the dark shape in the sky behind the veil of smoke and fog. Dorugoramon’s senses were far keener than his when it came to tracking and placing targets and allies, so he settled for covering them whilst she tried to suss out their surroundings for anything of interest.

A soft growl echoed inside the metal maws of Dorugoramon as her head slowly swung from side to side alongside her tail. “Nada,” the dragon replied, clearly not liking their current position, but unable to sense anything that would give them any opening. “Nothing but saltwater, singed metal, and this stupid fog as far as I can-” In a tense second, both head and tail stopped cold. Nothing but the sound of gently scraped asphalt as the metallic dragon slowly inched forward. “I smell dirt… A familiar dirt…” A small snarl as she slowly turned her head right. “Warm dirt… Might be that rat brat.”

“WarCapidramon?” Examon wasn’t able to place the sounds as Dorugoramon was, but he decided to trust her instincts. “Well, Parasimon mentioned he’d heard him up and around, so let’s hope as much.” In any case, if they moved back out, chances are they’d find the others along the way. He had some misgivings about Parasimon’s state of mind after their last conversation, with how he’d disappeared right after his willingness to die had been questioned. But as with Dorugoramon’s instincts, Examon chose to have faith in the other Knight. He’d made it this far, he was sure he’d be fine. Perhaps he’d even have picked up one or two stragglers along the way.

“Agreed. Any ally we can regroup with will give us just the slightest edge.” Dorugoramon didn’t hold the strongest hope to begin with, but she refused to give the dastardly abomination even the slightest victory, petty as it sounded. A quick sniff, then a soft growl later, she turned to Examon, a look of worry in her gleaming eyes. “Something doesn’t smell that right though… It’s hard to explain, but this smell is similar to how I smell when you found me: a chilling smell that pushes all clear thoughts to the back.”

“... You think he and Jordan could have Dark Digivolved as well?” That possibility weighed pretty heavily on Examon’s mind as it emerged. He’d sensed them in the fight with Millenniummon earlier, but hadn’t had the chance to dwell on their appearance, so could he and Siggy have lost track of them whilst they’d focused on Dorugoramon? Had they also witnessed Dirk’s-

“You know what, it doesn’t matter.” With everything going on, it was best not to dwell on that. They were alive, and if Dorugoramon and Zei could have been pulled from their feral state with relative ease, perhaps the same could be done for them. “What do you think would be the fastest way to get to them? Whatever state they’re in, we can figure out how to deal with it and help them when we find them.”

Neither her nor Zei knew the Digimon or his partner all that well, but she knew they had to act fast. “We fly there. I can track down the scent while you keep an eye out for our backs. Not really the safest option, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

“Right.” And with that, Examon spread his wings, withdrawing the shimmering orange veil of Avalon and then manifesting it anew to enclose him and Dorugoramon. “Worst case scenario… I’m sure we can deal with him without causing anyone any permanent harm. I just hope we’re not already too late.”

Dorugoramon opened her maw for a moment, then closed it without another word. She couldn’t think of anything that could alleviate Examon’s worry in the slightest, so not saying anything to exacerbate it was the next best thing.

Beelzemon’s vision may have been suffering beneath the obscuring veil that Moon=Millenniummon had laid down, but the former Lord of Gluttony’s other senses were as keen as ever. Though Parasimon’s presence singed his nose, the Knight’s musk was disconcertingly odorless; so when he took a deep breath and found himself inhaling the scent of a new beast, he stopped in his tracks.

“Hold on. BanchoLeomon, can you smell that?” Something about the smell- of foliage and the earth- was familiar, no doubt. But there was an ominous uncanniness about it, almost like he’d stumbled into the deepest depths of a forest, where a predator was waiting to strike.

BanchoLeomon paused, glancing to Parasimon. “Do I look like a dog Digimon to you?” He asked dryly, but did as he was bid nonetheless. He stayed still for a moment, trying to suss out whatever it was that Parasimon had smelled. At this point, he’d spent a decent amount of time around Rodendramon that he could make out the familiar scent.

“It’s Rodendramon. Finally found him.” He grunted, glancing to Parasimon. “I’ve forgotten, does he know you’re on our side yet? Don’t think I’ve seen him in a good while.”

“I’ll move to the back, just in case.” Parasimon wasn’t above trading barbs with BanchoLeomon, but the two were at least capable of working together. He didn’t recall interacting much with the other beast Digimon since Examon and Alphamon had brought him in to plan the attack on Tokugawa, and none of his encounters before that point had been civil. Hell, he could remember striking him out like a baseball at one point; he’d probably not be too happy about that, if nothing else. Best to play it safe.

However, as he prepared to move back, he froze. Parasimon’s senses weren’t as keen as those of the two partnered Digimon, but his ability to perceive the auras of others was at least on par. As the unseen beast Digimon drew closer, he felt their aura wash over him; and whilst he didn’t know them well, he recognized the edge surrounding the aura.

He acted instantly, a thin, shimmering wall of orange surrounding himself, BanchoLeomon and Beelzemon.

A moment later and something collided with Avalon, a nebula of green exploding against the now solid orange before a massive plume of dirt and cement erupted from the ground before them.

“God damn it!” BanchoLeomon reflexively ducked for cover at the explosion, gritting his teeth as he looked up. “Is Milleniummon active again already? I thought we still had time!”

“It’s not.” Parasimon lowered his shield carefully; but suspiciously, he didn’t produce his lance. “Your friend- the beast dragon that the First hitched a ride with- I felt this same aura coming off of them. The aura of a beast turned feral.”

“... No.” Beelzemon had immediately produced and readied one Berenjena as the world exploded into action, but as Parasimon spoke and the thick cloud of green chaff and shattered pavement cleared to reveal a dark shape before them, he lowered it. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

A groan. BanchoLeomon realized exactly who was attacking them once the smoke cleared.

“Rodendramon. He’s gone crazy, too? First Beelzemon, then Dorugoramon, now him. Why are half of us insane, feral idiots?” He shook his head as he stood back up, reaching for his sword. “How’d Examon calm Dorugoramon down?”

“Didn’t ask.” As BanchoLeomon and Beelzemon prepared their weapons, Parasimon kept his shield on standby. Worst case scenario, he could choke Rodendramon out or incapacitate them if they had a way to bypass Avalon. “I met them after Examon had snapped them out of it.”

“I can hazard a guess.” Beelzemon was more than aware of the relationship between the humans who’d partnered with Examon and Dorugoramon (had Dorumon achieved a new form since he’d blanked out?). However, he’d also been aware that the two Digimon had a similar relationship underneath their squabbling. “I’m also pretty sure that he isn’t interested in any of us in that particular sense.”

“Disgusting.” By Yggdrasil, Parasimon just couldn’t get away from mammals and their parts.

“Great. The hell do we do, then? Knocking him out will take too much time, and we can’t risk having a man down. Should we point him at Millenniummon?” BanchoLeomon grunted, eyeing Rodendramon and preparing to dodge should he fire again.

“He hasn’t got a reason to hate you, right?” Beelzemon decided to be candid. “I don’t know about you, but tall, decaying and ugly up there’s never been on a good heel with him and I don’t like the look he’s giving me, either. If we’re going to try talking him down before we go to drastic action maybe you should give it a shot.”

“It’s worth a try.” Parasimon decided to let Beelzemon’s jab slide without comment, although he made a mental note to flip the Demon Lord off one last time before the inevitable. “Avalon should be able to hold them long enough either way, but I think everyone would gain something if they calm down before that thing in the sky wakes up.”

BanchoLeomon sighed, one hand pinching his brow. Of course it’d fall down to him to attempt a diplomatic solution. Parasimon was an utter dick and Beelzemon was a moron. Wonderful. “Fine. No guarantees, but I’ll see what I can do. Keep me covered, will you?”

The leonine Digimon quickly hopped up to the highest point he could find: the rubble of a nearby building destroyed in Rodendramon’s initial strike. Gritting his teeth as he clambered up, he called out towards the rodent Mega.

“Rodendramon! Jordan! What the hell do you two think you’re doing?! In case you haven’t noticed, there’s bigger fish to fry than Parasimon! Deal with Millenniummon first!” He pointed up towards the crystal in the sky, warily looking back towards Rodendramon after. “We don’t have time for this nonsense. Either calm down or we’ll have to disable you.”

Part of the beast's mind remembered the orange glow, and he wasn't exactly enthused about it. However, seeing that there was no melee continuing without his provocation, Rodendramon simply bode his time, keeping all attention locked on the Beelzemon in particular. As a result, most of the outside conversation bypassed the Digimon.
At the mention of Jordan's name, the feral Digimon's stance shifted. All aggression ceased, and armored hind legs sat on the ground. Metallic whiskers extended above the Mega's sealed jaw, which were preened by oversized claws. With little warning, the jaw snapped open, and a hollow voice, much like one speaking from within a cave, sounded out.
"Acquisition of allies is priority one in dealing with Class A threat: Synthetic Digimon Moon-Millenniummon," even as the voice speaking was clinical, the body that played host to that voice seemed to mildly convulse, as if containing great churning bile at the mention of their foe, "Due to the detection of secondary Class A threat, subject:self_Rodendramon fired one warning shot in the form of Jade Meteor, in order to procure entry and assess the situation. Considering that subject:Royal-Knight_Parasimon-Mordred, subject:ally_BanchoLeomon, and subject:Class_A_threat:Demon_Lord_of_Gluttony:Beelzemon were not in conflict, it seems that the collection is standing in favor of location:Human_World, and are, thusly, allies."
With that, Rodendramon's jaw clapped shut, sealed once again by a plate of Chromedigizoid. The beast then began to pace about, sniffing the air and probing alleyways with his extended whiskers, attempting to locate their arguably more powerful allies, being Examon and Alphamon, though the latter seemed wholly absent from the incident. The unknown, equally feral Digimon also seemed to be an asset, but the mere thought of the individual seemed to cause a headache. Despite the raw logic with which he spoke, Rodendramon was still feral. Wings dragging upon the ground, and breath huffing through his helmet, his impatience was palpable. And while he seemed, in his unfocused pacing, to be tolerant of Parasimon to a degree, Beelzemon was given a wide birth. It was not possible for this Beelzemon to be the one that had once been an ally, not without significant time elapsing. And due to the fresh destruction and still burning fires in the city, there had certainly not been enough time for the once-partnered Impmon to develop into a Mega Level naturally. Dirk was dead, after all. It was a bitter reality, but Rodendramon knew it as fact, having pieced it together from the memories of his two constituent parts.
To simply wait until happenstance drove them into contact with yet another ally was a waste of time. The strain on reality caused by Moon-Millenniummon's very existence was gnawing at the back of Rodendramon's mind like a chorus of dissonant, pleading voices. He could feel the tremors in the earth as the barely-living calamity above was primed to render the planet by simply being.

Beelzemon didn’t quite sigh with relief, but he felt a knot of anxiety loosen as Rodendramon seemed to stand down. The aura coming off of the other Digimon still didn’t inspire a huge amount of confidence or camaraderie, but it seemed they weren’t in any danger of doing Millenniummon’s job for it.

“Alright, he’s in the loop.” Parasimon likewise seemed cautiously optimistic, although he kept his shield engaged in case of any sudden turns. “That makes four of us here, and Examon and Dorugoramon can’t be too far off. I think I can sense them getting closer.”

At that, Dirk surfaced from his temporary backseat in the fusion to step back from the others. He wasn’t sure where he stood with Siggy or Neon after what had happened, but that was a paltry concern compared to Dorumon and Zei. The strange name that they were using to describe the two’s new form had his hair standing on end, the bizarre and unexplained change suggesting that something was very, very wrong. If they were coming, he’d have to watch himself.

‘Man, if only you’d figured that one out sooner.’

‘Can we not right now?’ At least Beelzemon was the same as ever, even if everything had been blown wide. And although his words were like salt in wounds that had only just begun to heal, they didn’t deter Dirk from expanding their senses to get a feeling for nearby-

‘Wait’. There was a new signal emerging, just to the west. It was more like Examon’s than what he remembered of Dorumon’s or Alphamon’s, but also unlike it. Less palpable and vast, but more concentrated and compact. A distinct feeling that identified itself in mere moments.

Dynasmon.

Dirk had come out of his experience across his personal timeline changed, but not completely. Old habits died hard, and his recollection of the bizarre conversation he’d had in liminal space ignited his old willfulness.

“Right, I can sense something off in this direction.” Yelling up towards BanchoLeomon, Parasimon and- if he could understand him- Rodendramon, he waved in their direction before making a bee-line for the direction of the signal. “You’re doing a great job, I’ll be right back with a great job of my own, thanks bye!”

“Wait, don't just-" He heard Parasimon shout after him, but he soon faded out of earshot as he dived between the buildings towards Dynasmon. He was sure he was going to get an earful- possibly more- from BanchoLeomon when he got back, but he could live with that if he finally got some answers.

And by the devil floating in the sky, he was going to get them.
---

Dynasmon, the gestalt mind comprised of an alternate and future incarnation of Wizardmon and Elle - the native to this universe and time - turned his great horned head in every direction. He had spent the time since seeing the others and splitting off looking for UlforceVeedramon. For Leon. They couldn’t be gone, it wasn’t possible. But the odds were against the Royal Knight, even though time didn’t work as it should here, he was aware that some abnormal kind was passing, and Ulforce had been gone longer than anyone else.

He considered that maybe someone had seen him fall, but he sensed no energy nearby. Or could he? He knew he sensed something approaching him, but the suppression field that Milleniummon exuded clouded his sight and sixth senses somewhat. Sometimes it felt that he could see through time itself, into the realm of quantum decisions. Dynasmon gave up the search to face the incoming source of power. As it grew closer he felt himself become more and more apprehensive of its origin. It couldn’t be..

“There you are, thank god.” Down on the ground, Beelzemon hunched over to catch his breath. With their ad hoc Biomerge, it seemed his and Dirk’s reserves of power weren’t exactly what they had once been; the mad dash to catch up with the Knight had taken a lot more out of him that it would ever have otherwise. “Thought I’d never catch up to you when you turned for the bay.”

A few deep breaths later, and he straightened up. Blast Mode wasn’t on the table at the moment, so getting closer to Dynasmon was going to be a challenge unless he swam over to him. But the Knight wasn’t so high up or so far away that he wouldn’t be able to hear him, so that meant he could cut right to the chase.

“That old bastard at the halfway point caught me up. What’s this about you not being you?” And with all the subtlety of a piano smashing into the pavement, he did just that.

Dynasmon sighed as he saw who had approached him. He allowed himself to drift back to the shore and consider his answer to the Demon’s questions. His wings beat a steady rhythm as he dropped closer, stopping by the shore and then stepping smoothly on to the sand proper. He watches the particles float past him in a slow dance, moving slower than himself in this time. Odd.

Blinking, he returned his attention to Beelzemon, and he felt something shift within himself. Wizardmon could tell that the being he was looking at was only half from this plane of existence, much like himself. A creature only possible due to this event. Not meant for the world but brought to save it anyway. He knew he would have to be careful with what he said, though Witchelny, and his species, had only theorised about it existing, he was one of the few since the original crossing, that he knew of who had acted on that theory.

“By the tone of your voice and question, I assume you are Dirk. Welcome back.” He said, though after a moment of pause. “I know about as much as you do right now, all the old man told you was told to me also.” Dynasmon wasn’t sure what exactly that irritating man had told Dirk, but he hoped that this would throw him off the scent for now. He also neglected to say that he was the one who told the old man the theory of Witchelny. They had crossed over as a species to this universe’s digimon world a long time ago, so long ago that knowledge of how they had accomplished it was lost. But the theory remained, they had only grasped at much larger concepts of the universe to slide through. He had used this same theory when he felt the rupture in space-time occur. He had grabbed his ‘friend’ and shown him how he could use his digivice to follow his path through the multiverse, to seek that only temporarily lost and recover it.

“All I know is that time and space aren’t limited to what we see and know here.” It occurred to him that Beelzemon was there alone, where were the others? Dynasmon looked around for them, they had to be somewhere, unless they’d already engaged Milleniummon without him and Ulforce?

“You’re kidding…” Perhaps it was the exhaustion and stress getting to him, but Beelzemon couldn’t help but sound a little bit petulant as Dynasmon explained. Dirk cast his thoughts back to the meeting, trying to recall anything that could let them move forwards. “Didn’t he come over with you to begin with? He said you’re from the next world- the world waiting beyond ‘liminal space’, or whatever the fuck that strange place was.” And with the memory of the conversation came the recollection of the horror he’d seen: “And also that you’ve fought things like Millenniummon before.”

“He followed me, yes. Or rather.. One of me, it’s a complicated affair and there’s a lot to consider even for someone like Wizardmon.” He took a breath and considered his words more carefully. One stated the wrong way could be catastrophic.

“I know that you’re dead, and in this instance in time, Wizardmon is also dead. One of me returned to the reformed Digiegg of myself from another time and universe.” He pressed his fingers to his chin and considered for a moment “I think I’m also dead in many places, one gets a sense of things when one crosses through. The Wizardmon that my friend knew opened the gate and pushed me back through time while the friend pushed you. Does that clear things up for you?” Dynasmon was attempting to make it deliberately complicated if only to shut Dirk up a moment and give him a chance to return to the task at hand.

He tried to look into the distance to see the others, for a reprieve. He granted that their arrival could bring more questions than less though. He was dismayed at the apparent disappearance of Ulforce, Elle felt an ache deep in her heart as the potential reality of losing her first love began to sprout in her mind. Leon, gone. It couldn’t be true, but she felt that it was very likely at this point. She didn’t get how things worked like her partner did (and she was fairly sure he was only guessing at half of it anyway) but she knew in her heart the time he’d been gone now meant he wasn’t coming back. They were one down and she felt his loss like that of her brother and her partner. So many fresh wounds, she had to calm herself. Forget the anger and misery. Lock it into a box and unpack it later, she told herself. She couldn’t help anyone if she was comatose again.

“Half truths and cryptic bullshit.” It did nothing to improve Dirk’s mood, but the Dynasmon’s words hit their mark. “Figures, I don’t know why I expected anything else after all this time.”

A sigh. Oh well, no good crying over it. If Göring back there wasn’t lying out of his rotting ass about seeing Examon and Dorugoramon and Dynasmon had covered the ground that he and the others hadn’t, then there was only member of the party remaining to be located.

“Forget about it, if I ever get the chance to go back to that weird halfway point I’ll personally ram my foot up that guy’s ass for the both of us.” Couldn’t hurt at this point. “Not sure if you heard them from all the way over here, but me, BanchoLeomon and Frankensteiner found Jordan and Shrewmon. They sound like they forgot how to talk like people, but they’re up. If fuckface is telling the truth about finding Examon and Dorugoramon, then that’s just UlforceVeedramon left to find.”

Dynasmon nodded and looked up at the sky, “If you want to yell at him then we’ll need to win this.” There’s nothing else to do now, everyone that it was possible to find had been found. “As for Ulforce, we’re all there is. I don’t think he made it.” Elle cringed within Dynasmon’s consciousness as this was said, it was one thing to know the truth but another entirely to have to say it to someone else. Dynasmon kept his head up as he recounted the different possibilities he had seen, every shard of possibility in the multiverse with this as a focal point.

He lowered his gaze back down, looking towards Beelzemon and his hitch hiker. “Isn’t that right?” He said: but rather than look at them as he spoke, his vision seemed to move over and past them.

Dirk paused, looking back up from his thoughts. So, Leon and UlforceVeedramon were still unaccounted for. The thought was enough to fill his blood with ice, were it not for his perennial stubbornness deciding otherwise. Something in his gut told him that they were alive, and despite everything he chose to lean into that.

Dynasmon's response confused him, though. Was Elle spiralling, or was the stress of the situation taking its toll on Dynasmon despite his seeming knowledge of futures and outcomes? Or-

“You’d know more than me. I’ve had this conversation about three times in the last half hour, and none of them have looked good for him.”

Or had another Digimon arrived during the conversation?

“... How long have you been there?” Dirk turned, catching the sight of Parasimon’s gigantic silhouette behind the fog as he leaned against one of the taller buildings still standing over the bay.

“Long enough.” He’d have expected him to sound angrier. But then- “I have no idea what it meant, but you’re even worse at insulting people than you are at staying out of trouble.”

“Surprised you don’t know what a Nazi is.” Dirk shrugged. Fine, if this was the way he wanted to play, then he was game. “Broke all the mirrors in the castle, did you?”

“I don’t know, do they kill people that don’t represent a threat to them and then carry on like other people are the problem?” Through the veil of smoke, Dirk could see the various lights dotting the Knight’s face narrow and increase in intensity. “Get a grip. I’m not having this conversation with you.”

“Yeah, I guess if you take away helping Imperialdramon create a fascist regime, you don’t have much to talk to us about.”

‘... Would this be a bad time to point out-’ Beelzemon started, before Dirk tuned him out with a huff.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t be here right now if I couldn’t measure up to the fact that I fucked up.” It occured to Dirk as he spoke that Parasimon had been fairly cagey about talking about how exactly he’d gotten here. He vaguely remembered that the Knight- ‘for whatever probably batshit insane reason’- agreed to assist in the final operation against Tokugawa. But standing here right now, present and conscious? “What about you? Did that thing take one look into your squirming rat brain and spit it out? Or did you just leave the ov-”

Dirk stopped mid-sentence, his mouth agape. A palpable moment passed, and then-

“I’m not going to apologize for him, but this conversation is going nowhere fast.” Beelzemon sighed, shaking his head as he wrested control back from Dirk. Guess old habits really did die hard.

“So I noticed.” Parasimon huffed, rising and making his way over towards Beelzemon and Dynasmon as he looked into the distance towards the crystalline nightmare in the sky, being careful not to extend the distance of his lights such that they would alert it to their presence. “But I think he deserves an answer, after that performance. I came back because this is the way it has to be. Me and that thing up there, or the world.”

He lingered on that ominous phrase momentarily, before looking up to the momentarily silent Dynasmon. “I’m sure you knew that already, though.” There was no point in hiding that he’d overheard enough of that part of the conversation to piece together a functional conclusion about the Digimon’s mysterious re-entry.

Dynasmon had remained out of the argument between the pair and only spoke up once he was addressed by Parasimon. He let his shoulders drop a little and sighed, weighing up how best to parse the information-

He hadn’t seen Parasimon this close-up before now. The sight of the Knight had been enough to make him avert his eyes the best he could when he spoke to him over Examon’s body, and although he’d seen him coming long before Beelzemon noticed him, the fog had obscured the details of his form. He almost wished he had the same luxury now, the miasma of the Knight's immolated frame and patchwork armour of unearthly organic crystal almost suffocating this close-up.

But as he perceived the logic and pattern behind that surreal biology, and noticed the incandescent flicker of the wings running down the insect's back, those thoughts ground to a halt.

The infinite kaleidoscope that made up the entity inhabiting Dynasmon’s body comprised many worlds and many times. In some, he and Elle fought the Royal Knights with Siggy, Zei, Lucas, Dirk, Leon, Jordan and their partners. In others, they went at it alone, only intermittently working with the people that monitored movement between the Human and Digital Worlds as the line between them and their peoples became more and more blurred. There were so many world lines, so many possibilities and variables, that predicting the path each one would take to its conclusion was all but futile until events came crashing down on the interloper like lightning from the heavens.

As he looked over Parasimon, a mere handful of those countless threads tightened in his mind. He pushed them away, the collective sending them back to the place beyond the universe itself. But while Elle only felt the most infinitesimally brief moment of deja vu, brushing it off as a mere twinge of emotion , Dynasmon didn’t need to call upon his knowledge of those lines to realise what their reaction entailed.

“I know… Time is a mess right now, but I know that you are ready to do what needs to be done.” Was all he felt he could say, the tapestry of the future laid out before him but not one he can look at or discuss openly or even act on with knowledge about it. With a shake of his head he checked the sky again, watching for movements that Milleniumon might make, telegraphs of attacks.

“Hold on.” Beelzemon wasn’t far off from Dirk in his feelings about the colossal Knight, but he recognized those words, what their bitter edge foretold. “What are you-”

“At this point, it doesn’t matter.” Parasimon looked down from Dynasmon to Beelzemon, and then back up at the crystal in the distance. Damn it, he was done talking about this. Every conversation his fate threatened to rear its ugly head in since he last spoke to Examon tugged harder on his resolve.

“You’ll find out soon enough, one way or another.” The time for what-ifs and could-have-beens was long gone. There was no coming back from what he had done, all he could do now was- “All I can do now is roll the dice and hope that monster chokes on it- and me.”

Well, they were getting somewhere with this. At least Rodendramon was...calm? More like a damn robot, but at this point, beggars couldn’t be choosers. If he could tell friend from foe, good enough.

“Alright, he’s in the loop.” Parasimon was the first one to talk after Rodendramon ‘clarified’ his situation. He did keep his shield engaged, though, pre-empting any sudden turns in the Digimon’s still-suspicious behaviour. “That makes four of us here, and Examon and Dorugoramon can’t be too far off. I think I can sense them getting closer.”

“About time,” BanchoLeomon grumbled. “We’re losing minutes here. Every second we waste regrouping is another that the thing up there is taking to charge up. Now, we should-”

“Right, I can sense something off in this direction. You’re doing a great job, I’ll be right back with a great job of my own, thanks bye!” Beelzemon called from down below, already running off to who knew where.

“Wait, don’t just run off!” Parasimon yelled, quickly disengaging his shield in the heat of the moment to try and stop Beelzemon from what appeared to be making a break for it. But as the orange light glimmered back into existence, it was already too late. The Demon Lord had gotten too far for Parasimon to stop while still keeping his shield shaped so that he and BanchoLeomon had a margin for error with Rodendramon.

“...God damn it.” BanchoLeomon sighed, raising one hand to pinch his brow. “As much as I’d rather not he get himself killed again, there’s no point chasing after him right now. You can fly, can’t you? Mind getting Examon and Dorugoramon? I’ll keep an eye on this one here.” He grunted to Parasimon, jerking a finger back in Rodendramon’s direction.

“Give me one moment.” Pulling himself away from glowering off into the distance, Parasimon straightened up and expanded his own senses, pushing past the overwhelming earthy musk of Rodendramon and the simmering frustration of BanchoLeomon as so to better gauge the positions of Examon and Dorugoramon. Before, he’d felt the two’s presence as a mere blip on his psychic radar, an indication of their increasing proximity rather than an accurate placement of their position. But as he pushed further outwards, something unusual emerged.

“Right. I said they were getting closer, but that may not be the full truth.” He stopped, thinking how best to phrase the suggestion he was about to make. It wasn’t as if he didn’t trust BanchoLeomon to keep composed or, if he was being fully honest, care enough about the Digimon’s blood pressure to care about saying anything to worsen his mood. They both knew where they were at this point. But in the interests of not following Beelzemon’s example…

“I felt them getting closer, but now I can feel them moving away.” A pause. He looked up over the top of the building, the crystals along his back humming as he rose to gain a better vantage point. The fog was too thick to see far, but with his senses expended this far, he could tell that they were getting closer to the water. “They must have made it back to the bay. Examon’s not... well, he’s not completely out of his depth, unlike a few others of you seem to be, so let’s make an educated guess and assume he and Dorugoramon are sticking close to the water’s edge to keep track of their position.”

“You go after them, then. Keep an eye on Beelzemon while you’re at it. Make sure he doesn’t do something stupid again.” He paused, thinking about that statement for a second. “Again.” BanchoLeomon shook his head. “Since the big rat’s not shooting at me yet, I’ll keep an eye on him for now, try to figure out what’s going on.”

“Alright, if we’re in agreement.” What Parasimon didn’t mention was that, as he’d opened up his mind to place the two dragons, he’d sensed what- or rather, who- had snatched Beelzemon’s attention away. BanchoLeomon would be able to figure out what Beelzemon’s motives were, but he could do without his own interest in Dynasmon being open knowledge until the time came to make his play. “Perhaps if I give you two some space, he may calm down by himself. Whatever the situation is between you two, I doubt he’s got as much of a reason to hold a grudge as with me.”

Given the lack of cultural context, BanchoLeomon resisted making the quip that Lucas had called Jordan a drug dealer just this morning, and simply nodded, turning back to Rodendramon as Parasimon headed off.

“So. What happened to you anyway? We all got hit by that...illusion nonsense. Jordan still in there? This some sort of safe mode? Factory reset?”

For a fraction of a second, as Beelzemon took wing, there was a flash of savagery in Rodendramon's eye. It only lasted for the moment, but it was much like the reaction a dog would have to seeing the object of its frequent beatings. However, as Parasimon and BanchoLeomon spoke, Rodendramon simply laid his head on his foreclaws, listening idly as his gaze was tilted to the eerie, fog wreathed skies.
Though the insectoid Knight's departure seemed imminent, as he seemed to have a bead on something, Rodendramon's mouth plate scraped open, "Query: Utilization of remote sensors in order to locate additional allies while holding current position. Valid?"
There were a few other things on the beast's mind, but they made his head hurt. There was something incongruous in the presence of the Beelzemon, though Rodendramon himself was unaware of what the reason could be. All the power and knowledge his two constituent parts could possibly possess, alone or together, and yet he was not much more than a newborn.
At the mention of the term 'safe mode', the placated Digimon shifted his gaze to meet that of BanchoLeomon.
"'Safe mode' is perhaps the most accurate phrase for the current situation," the Digimon's hollow voice sounded out yet again, "I am unaware of what lead to the current situation prior to the appearance of Subject: Synthetic Digimon Millenniummon. Subject: Human 'Jordan' is inoperable at the current time. I do not know what has caused my formation. I only know fury."
Another stray thought or two passed Rodendramon's mind, but they did not seem relevant. The posture of the beast, even as he extended his whiskers for a second cleaning, bespoke a deep unease. That it felt the screams of the dying earth were of no consequence now. The events its mind shared with those inside did not matter now. This 'Dorugoramon''s identity was of no importance to Rodendramon, though it was a curiosity, as it seemed absent from its data-banks. No, what mattered was ending this Synthetic Digimon at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing the entirety of its digital mass in the process.

BanchoLeomon sighed again as Rodendramon responded, eventually internally deciding to just give up and play along with this nonsense going on.

“Yes, yes, valid. You’re an angry robot, fine. I don’t care anymore.” They were wasting time with all this. “Just follow along for now. We’ve got to regroup with the others before pushing against Millenniummon. Or whatever it is he is now.”

Without waiting for Rodendramon’s reaction, BanchoLeomon leapt into the air, starting to hop between rooftops and rubble as he followed in the direction Parasimon had flown off in previously.

---

Dirk could only very generously be described as ‘a little touch and go’ when it came to intuition, but Beelzemon hadn’t clawed his way up the ranks of infamy purely on dumb muscle. Between that and his familiarity with Dirk’s own destructive behaviours and deducing exactly what Parasimon was implying was elementary.

“Look, I don’t want to go giving you the wrong idea here, we’re not friends or anything remotely similar to that.” Fuck, he still hated complex emotions. He supposed that was something he could start working on if he made it out of this alive. “But are you absolutely sure you’ve got to die to put that thing down? I know it’s been a long day, but you can’t possibly be alright with that?”

“Whether I’m alright with it is immaterial.” Parasimon was already regretting dropping this particular shoe. Should have just kept his mouth shut until it was time to check out. “This is the way it has to be.”

“Yeah, and I know a certain other idiot who wouldn’t stop running his mouth about ‘what needs to be done’.” Beelzemon’s voice tapered out into Dirk’s as he responded to Parasimon, the disembodied human jumping back into the fray as the Knight’s words unleashed something in him. “You or the world? Don’t be stupid, you just can’t see past your own self-loathing long enough to imagine a better way out.”

“There isn’t a better way out.” Parasimon seemed unfazed, only firing back at Beelzemon in the same bored tone as before. But- “Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that I didn’t think I had this coming. Every outcome I saw when that thing had me under its thrall ended up with either me dead or both your world and mine destroyed.”

He sighed, looking down at Beelzemon. If the Demon Lord and his human weren’t lying about what had happened, they weren’t completely talking out of their ass. He supposed he could take the matter seriously.

“I may have been a poor excuse for a Knight, but I know where my duties lie. All of us here do. We made peace with death when we took up the sword- and beyond that, I came to this world knowing full well it might be my grave. I’ll go on and do what I have to do, and then perhaps no-one else will have to die.”

Parasimon fell silent again after that, looking out over the ocean. Beelzemon continued to glare up at him, but likewise said nothing. What could he even say? His own wounds were fresh and open once more after his own experience across his personal timeline, and Dirk seemed to retreat to the background once more as the Knight gave his piece. Once again, they’d wandered into a situation too thorny and ridiculous for either of them to deal with.

Damn it, what a colossal pain in the ass this all was.

---

Soaring through the foggy skies, Dorugoramon’s eyes were peeled open despite the horrendous visibility of her surroundings. Though much smaller than her fellow companion, she was no less cautious in their search for potential allies. Still, the steel dragon had been silent for quite a while and, while one might blame the silence on the trauma of her human half, the other half had also been unusually quiet throughout the flight.

Examon had likewise been quiet, ppting to protect them from behind as Dorugoramon tracked a route that would quickly lead them to Rodendramon before he or they attracted Moon=Millenniummon’s attention. There was still no sign of Siggy, and Alphamon was being unusually quiet as well, so Examon found himself having some room to think.

It was certainly unusual that UlforceVeedramon hadn’t re-appeared. While the simplest and most pessimistic conclusion, that he was the first casualty of the newly-formed abomination, weighed heavily on his mind, his gut feeling told him that wasn’t the case. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, thought of another death after the loss of Dirk too much to bear. It could simply have been a refusal to believe that his oldest ally had passed without him being so much as able to perceive it. But from what Examon could recollect of the grim futures he’d seen, UlforceVeedramon would have to have survived the opening salvo from Moon=Millenniummon to have appeared at all in his visions. After all, they were no illusion, simply a view into the infinite and gruesome outcomes of this bloody conflict. As if to confirm his point- and rub salt in the wound while it was fresh- in no future had he seen Beelzemon take part in-

Examon froze mid-flight as a new set of signals bled in from the edge of his expanded senses. One of them was immediately recognizable as Parasimon, and beneath that acrid miasma was Dynasmon. So he’d found the other Knight after falling behind, and before he could do anything reckless. That much was a relief. But the third signal…

In no future had he seen Beelzemon take part in the battle against Moon=Millenniummon. As far as he was aware, Impmon had either perished with Dirk or had otherwise been able to take part in the ensuing fight against his murderer’s magnum opus.

And yet, there he was, nestled amongst the two Knights.

After what seemed like an eternity of eerie silence, Dorugoramon finally took notice of the larger dragon’s sudden stop. A soft growl rumbling inside her throat, the steel dragoness approached him and asked in an almost feral tone, “What is it, prey?”

Examon paused, deliberating. So she hadn’t noticed the signal yet. Perhaps her hyperfocus on locating Rodendramon narrowed her perception. Her senses were far keener than his, and Parasimon’s aura would have caught her attention even if Beelzemon’s own was smothered beneath it. But knowing what he knew, he didn’t have time to figure out why.

---

‘I know you can sense that too.’ Alphamon may have been quiet, but Examon knew she was there, keeping their Biomerged form stable. And if she was there, she could weigh in on the situation. ‘Any suggestions?’

‘Right now, I suggest we stay the course. I trust Parasimon and Dynasmon to be able to guide our surprise guest-if it really is the one we’re both thinking about-and find their way to safety, if only because we have to trust them to do their own thing,’ Alphamon replied, her voice remaining calm despite the surprising discovery. As hopeful as she could be at a time like this, she knew she had to focus on their objective for the time being.

‘Trusting them is something I’m prepared to do.’ Examon didn’t react with frustration to Alphamon, but instead decided to be more candid with his concerns. ‘But with the route we’re taking, we’ll likely encounter them before we encounter Rodendramon. There’s an obvious alternative, but-’

Examon paused- but then pressed on. No second-guessing himself any more.

‘We can’t go keeping them in the dark any more,’ he said, directing Alphamon’s attention to Dorugoramon- and the traumatized human within. ‘But you know as well as I that truth is hardly ever painless. We have to break this to them without breaking them again- and before it’s too late to soften the blow.’

Alphamon understood why Examon wouldn’t want to keep Dorugoramon and Zei in the dark, knowing that they needed everyone to be on the same page to even stand a chance against Moon=Millenniummon. At the same time, being the most sane one of the three ‘Faces of Eves’-a horrendously bleak achievement as far as she was concerned-made her worry about how Zei, the least mentally stable of them all, would react to the discovery. After another moment of silence, the former Knight spoke up again.

‘I understand your concern,’ she hummed softly, ‘in that case, why not let them find out on their own? I’d argue that it would be easier for them and what’s left of their sanity to find out themselves than having us drop the news on their heads like an anvil.’

There was a momentary lull as Alphamon brokered her suggestion, as Examon weighed up her words.

---

“What is it, prey?”

“Something like that. I can’t smell Rodendramon like you can, but I can sense something else in our path.” Examon answered both Dorugoramon and Alphamon’s suggestion in one fell swoop, gently nudging the other dragon with the vague statement as he resurfaced from the inner dialogue. “A few different signals, clustered together. Can you make sense of them?”

A soft chirp escaped her metal maw as Dorugoramon looked around, stepping back from her focus on Rodendramon to expand her senses. For a moment, the dragon seemed almost confused, wondering what could’ve given Examon pause, until something, or someone caught her attention. Her eyes widened as she started sniffing the air, her tail flicking restlessly, until she let out a string of soft chirps. In that moment, the metallic beast acted more like a Fresh Digimon than the ferocious dragon she physically was.

“Dirk?” Zei’s voice cut through the otherwise feral undertone of the dragon’s own voice.

“So it’s not just me, then.” Well, so far so good. Examon looked down in the direction that he could sense the signals. As he’d said to Alphamon, short of lying to them, they would have to face this eventually, and while Zei’s re-appearance and reaction wasn’t the best outcome, it was something he was prepared to deal with.

“Easy, I’m sure he’s shaken up too.” Examon couldn’t dance around what had happened, but speaking to Zei’s empathy seemed the best course of action- acknowledge it in a way that would help tether her back to whatever modicum of sanity and reality still existed in this hellish situation. “If we can sense Beelzemon, then he’s got to be alive and up- and if I’m right about who’s with him, he’s safe.”

Dorugoramon, or Zei rather, turned to Examon and chirped again. The dragon’s senses finally picked up on the other Digimons traveling with Beelzemon, and she finally calmed down. Though Zei’s voice was silenced once more, her response looked promising. At the very least, the unstable human didn’t suffer any mental breakdown and seemed almost hopeful, as hopeful as a broken bird could be.

“If we keep going the way we’re going, we’ll reach them before we make contact with Rodendramon.” Examon took heart from Zei’s response, deciding to press on and bite the bullet. If she was taking it well so far, hopefully they could join back up without a hitch. “I trust Dynasmon and Parasimon to look after Beelzemon, but strength in numbers might help if Rodendramon has gone berserk. What do you think we should do?”

Dorugoramon’s eyes narrowed down as she turned her single-minded focus from Rodendramon to her new target. “We go,” Zei’s truncated voice echoed in the dragon’s maw. “Regroup and see for ourselves…”

Examon simply nodded, waiting and watching as Dorugoramon took off into the air again before following her with his shield engaged as he had before. So far so good, and it was with a mixture of relief and trepidation that he was finally able to think over the implications of his discovery.

So Beelzemon was alive and able to assume his Mega-level form again. That much he readily understood, seeing as he’d only had Dirk’s death confirmed for him and his knowledge of the Digimon’s sordid past. What he was having trouble understanding was why he hadn’t seen the Digimon fight alongside them in any of his visions of the future. Perhaps, as had so often happened before, his own expectations coloured his perception for the worst. At the very least, he doubted that it was a ploy from the abomination in the sky. But he knew what he’d seen, and it didn’t take long for him to understand what this new development implied for it.

The futures he’d seen were all changeable, and something had happened in the brief space of time between him falling into Moon=Millenniummon’s trance and him escaping it to upset them. That much was both terrifying and reassuring, knowing that their future was very much still within reach. But at the same time, while it emboldened him to accept his instinct that UlforceVeedramon was still alive… if one unforeseen development had brought Beelzemon back into the fray, had another one taken him out of it?

Fortunately for Beelzemon, a reprieve for the thorny situation he’d been plunged head-first into came in the form of a new set of scents and aura approaching. One of them, he found difficult to identify; but the other was readily familiar even with the unusual qualities it seemed to have picked up since the last time he’d encountered Examon.

“They’re here.” Parasimon spoke first, turning from looking out over the waters with a calm, committed expression on his face as he likewise picked up the signals, and looking up to where Dynasmon floated. “Examon and Dorugoramon will be here soon. If you have anything to tell them, do it quickly. We’ll need to act as soon as we’re all back together.”

It was at that point, with a heady hybrid feeling of relief and dread, that he realized that another was en route to replace it. So that ambiguous, ominous signal was Dorumon, Alphamon and Zei? That last one in particular weighed heavily on his mind, bringing Dirk out from the dark, confused mood that had consumed him after his talk with Parasimon as they debated what to do.

‘Are you going to be able to handle this?’ Beelzemon asked the human in there with him. Perhaps a bit ironic after what had happened, but the concern was sincere.

‘... Yeah. We can’t run away any more.’ Dirk was going to ride this out, one way or another.

Above them, Parasimon watched as the large forms of the two partnered Dragons gradually became visible through the thick fog, becoming more and more distinct and tangible with every passing moment. He moved from his position to the path of the oncoming Digimon, his copy of Avalon bursting into life above him as orange shimmered and flickered as a beacon and greeting for the two.

After what seemed like an eternity, Dorugoramon finally made her landing, followed closely by Examon. For a moment, the metallic dragon growled as she took in the sight of familiar faces, and nobody could tell what she’s about to do next. However, as she quietly folded her wings and let her tail rest on the ground under her feet, there was hope that, despite her less-than-ideal state of mind, nothing egregious would occur. Examon’s eyes, meanwhile, scanned carefully across the assembled Digimon, as if searching for someone in particular-

“Picked up a few more.” If Parasimon perceived anything unusual about Examon and Dorugoramon’s behaviour, he didn’t note it. He simply offered them a terse greeting before diving straight into business, Avalon fading out from its makeshift role above him. As it faded out of existence, the orange light sputtered a little, glitching around the edges: but again, Parasimon didn’t seem to notice. “BanchoLeomon stayed behind to try and cajole your other insane friend back to reason. Everyone is accounted for, minus one.”

“Right.” Examon nodded as Parasimon’s words brought him back to attention. Beside the Hazard Knight, he could see Dynasmon floating quietly a short distance away, and now that he was close enough he too could sense BanchoLeomon and Rodendramon, the former now moving towards them. Again, that just left UlforceVeedramon. He could catch up and brief them one last time shortly, put out the feelers for his oldest friend again before they went in all guns blazing, but before then-

“We can talk things over again soon, but first things first.” His eyes scanned downwards, looking towards the signal that seemed to be doing its best to try and fade into the background.

“Beelzemon?” There he was, standing by Parasimon’s vast, skeletal legs, as if nothing had ever happened to put him out of commission in the first place.

“Dirk?” Zei’s voice, tiny and fractured, echoed inside the dragon’s maw. Her head was tilted slightly to one size like a confused puppy. So many conflicting desires from the two parts of the whole dragon made her stand still like a statue, unwilling to approach him yet also unwilling to leave.

“Easy. We’re all still processing what happened.” Again, Examon tried to keep Zei tethered to sanity as he navigated them through this bizarre new situation. Perhaps a bit selfishly, he hoped that Beelzemon’s presence meant that the Demon Lord was standing on an even enough heel to help guide them through it-

“Oh god, I really fucked it up this time, didn’t I?” And then those words came, blurted out in a moment of foresight compromised by panic and horror.

There was a sound like steel doors slamming shut as Examon’s thought process came to a crashing halt. Slowly, with the sound of metal creaking, the Dragon Emperor turned from Dorugoramon to Beelzemon, looking down at him with a blank expression as he spoke with that all-too familiar voice and cadence. Slowly, as his mind resumed function, a mixture of emotions began to trickle in, first a heady mixture of relief and confusion-

A soft chirp from Dorugoramon’s maw broke the tension between Examon and Beelzemon as she finally made her move, trudging slowly towards the familiar form of the Demon Lord. She stopped only when she had to bend down to look at Beelzemon’s face, her tail flicking and kicking up dust from the ground.

“You’re… alive…” There was something in the human’s voice: doubt, hope, or apprehension. It was difficult to tell due to how stoic the dragon’s face looked.

“Damn it. Damn it!” Beelzemon- no, Dirk’s- feelings were unambiguous, however. Dropping to his hands and knees, there was a loud crack as a clenched fist smashed the asphalt beneath it. His voice wavered, flickering between his own and Beelzemon’s as the Demon Lord seemed to fight an unseen battle to snap his partner out of it; an invisible battle that he very visibly lost as that voice cracked with a sob. “Zei…”

Another metallic chirp from the smaller dragon Digimon, though closer to Beelzemon’s ears. Unsurprising, since the dragoness in question had lowered her head until her steel-clad snout was just a feet away from his forehead. Still, she made no other sound or move, her body still as a statue.

“... Dirk.” After what felt like an eternity, Examon finally spoke up, his voice surprisingly level for the countless and conflicting emotions that were assaulting him. “As much of a relief as it is to see you again, how the fuck are you here?” A moment later, and with a wince, he qualified: “I’m happy you’re here, but didn’t you-”

“Y-yeah.” With a sniff, Dirk wiped away the deluge of tears that had been pouring down his face. His voice was shaky, but as he reached up and placed a clawed gauntlet on Dorugoramon’s snout, it levelled out somewhat, enough for him to speak clearly. “That old fascist took my head off. It’s a long story how I got back here, but-”

He paused. The presence of Lucas within BanchoLeomon had been unmistakable, as had Elle’s within Dynasmon and- ‘No, hold yourself together, you can’t fall apart now after everything you’ve been through’- Zei’s within the surreal creature who was currently staring down at him. Examon, however, seemed to be purely him and another signal he couldn’t immediately put a finger on. He hadn’t been able to sense Jordan within Rodendramon either, but the state they’d found him in was self-evident of why. Examon seemed perfectly lucid, so why-

“Where’s Siggy?” A chill ran through Dirk’s body, his voice becoming shakier once more as a fresh wave of horror threatened to drown him.

The next few seconds hung heavy in the air, the tension palpable. Standing a way back from the emotional scene, Parasimon looked between Examon and Beelzemon, and then to Dorugoramon. Silence. The tension began to creep into him, too, and he was suddenly conscious of just how depleted- emotionally and physically- his allies were. He wasn’t privy to anywhere near enough of their inner workings to gauge the full depths of the despair unfolding before him, but he could feel it weighing down on them, something as stifling and deadly as anything Moon=Millenniummon could throw at them.

“... Don’t worry, he’s fine.” But as Examon spoke, that mood slowly began to abate. The Dragon couldn’t hide how tired he sounded, but there was a sudden humour and warmth to his voice. “I don’t know if you saw them too, but Millenniummon gave us all visions of the future and past so we’d give up. I don’t know what he’s seeing in there, but even if he’s not with us right now, he’ll be back before we know it. We all made it back, I’m sure he will too. I know he will.”

He sighed, a cleansing sensation that further pushed the dark tension away. “What’s important is that you’re here. If you’re not ready to talk, we can do it once we’ve put this thing in the ground.” He gave the best approximation of a smile he could give with the structure of his jaws. “The others will be here soon. Until then, I think there’s one person you should focus on.”

Throughout that entire conversation, Dorugoramon had yet to budge from her spot and continued to watch Beelzemon like a predator eyeing a potential meal. However, after what seemed like an eternity of tension, she finally pulled away and gave him back his personal space, only to then poke at his head like a curious puppy. Either Zei had regressed back to the mentality of a child, or she was still trying to process the corporeality of the being in front of her. Given her tenuous grip on sanity, either seemed likely.

The prod snapped Dirk out of the minor trance of contemplation he’d fallen into, nearly knocking him over as he jolted back to awareness with a yelp. Staring at Dorugoramon, up to Examon and then back to the smaller dragon, he took a moment to collect himself before speaking once more.

“... Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.” Well, Siggy wasn’t here and his last hurrah had broken something in Zei. But for the time being, he chose to believe in Examon’s words. He didn’t know how deep that belief ran, but anything would do to dam the rush of emotions that still waited for a chance to burst forth and crush him.

He said nothing after that, instead just looking up at Dorugoramon as they backed off from him; silence settling over them again as countless confused and constrained feelings filled the air anew.

For some reason, the trek back over the rubble that was this part of Tokyo felt like it took years. But BanchoLeomon hopped up onto the pile of decimated concrete that the others were gathering around only to watch Beezlemon, no, Dirk, nearly lose his shit again. For fuck’s sake. He wasn’t dealing with this.

“Alright, is everyone here?” BanchoLeomon grumbled, folding his arms as he somehow produced a box of cigarettes out from his coat and stuck one in his mouth. Probably was on Lucas’s person when they’d Biomerged. “We’re running out of time to sit around and wait.”

“Rodendramon is with you, right?” As BanchoLeomon pulled up, Examon cautiously took his attention away from Beelzemon and Dorugoramon. Provided nothing took a sudden turn, it seemed the worst he had to worry about was BanchoLeomon strangling Beelzemon.

BanchoLeomon jerked a finger behind him in the direction he’d came with one hand while fishing for a lighter in his coat with the other. “Idiot somehow blue-screened himself, he’s in some kind of Microsoft Sam safe mode. But he’s functional and ready to fight.”

“Yeah, that checks out.” Well, it was better than nothing, Examon supposed. If Jordan and Shrewmon could fight, they could figure out what was going on with them once this was all over. “I don’t know if Parasimon mentioned it to you or not, but Siggy’s still out for now-“

“Wait, what?” Lucas’s voice burst out of the cat man’s mouth, showing an uncharacteristic amount of concern. Or rather, it’d be more of an uncharacteristic outburst if Siggy wasn’t basically his best friend at this point besides his Digimon partner. “Shit. He’s still alive, right? Just KOed? Christ.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m all but certain he’s still with us.” Examon seemed a little taken aback by the sudden display of emotion, but a moment later and he was speaking calmly again. He should have expected that, he realized. “You know what that thing did to all of us, I think it must just be affecting him worse than the rest of us. You know him, I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

“Alright, alright, fine. Guess that’s the best we can ask for.” Lucas sighed. “Guessing Zei isn’t conscious either, huh?” If he was really saddled with just Dirk of all people for this last battle, God was real and he had the most dickish sense of humor in existence. Not even random chance was that malicious.

“She’s up, just… not quite with it.” Examon sighed. “Long story, she and Dorumon can still fight, and you’ve probably figured by now but I can still move and fight. It’s an even longer story on that one, but if Dirk and Beelzemon are somehow back with us that means that if Rodendramon is with you, unless you were lucky enough to bump into him on the way over, the only one of us still unaccounted for is UlforceVeedramon?”

“But yes, I haven’t run into Ulforce either.” BanchoLeomon took back over, puffing on his smoke. “The way I see it, we won’t have long until whatever that is up in the sky finally gets around to moving. We’re going to have to do this without him. Everyone ready?”

“I agree, but something feels really off about this.” Examon was well aware that the clock was running down on their window of opportunity to get the first shot in against Moon=Millenniummon, but try as he might, there was no shifting that uncomfortable feeling from earlier. “I don’t know about you, but when I was out there in my own mind, I saw more outcomes of this fight than I care to remember, and he was there, fighting with us, but Beelzemon was nowhere to be seen. I’m sure- as sure as I am about Siggy- that he didn’t fall when this thing first raised its ugly head out of the bay, but something’s not adding up.”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out for myself, for what it’s worth.” Parasimon had been quiet up until this point as Examon and BanchoLeomon reunited and reconvened, simply keeping a watchful eye on Beelzemon and Dorugoramon below him, and the monstrosity in the sky above them all. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think we all got hit at the same time. Dorugoramon mentioned moving in to attack Millenniummon when it first reawakened, but I went under almost the exact moment it rose up out of the water.”

“Makes sense.” BanchoLeomon grunted, offering everyone else in the vicinity a smoke, which only Beelzemon took. “We only went under when we looked up at the sky. Good thing none of you were flying over the bay at the time, or you’d probably have been drowning by now-” He paused in the middle of lighting Beelzemon’s cigarette.

“Sovereigns be damned, Ulforce was over the water, wasn’t he?”

Despite the haze of heat from the titans around him, a sudden chill seeped into the air at BanchoLeomon’s words. Examon stared at him for a moment before, with a sudden dulling of his bright yellow eyes, he snapped around to look at the waters behind them in horror.

“...” Parasimon’s reaction was a bit more muted at first, with him just staring at BanchoLeomon as Beelzemon’s mouth fell open and his cigarette tumbled to the ground below, but a moment later and- “Oh. Oh fuck. I remember now, I was more or less right here when it happened, but- he was out there over the water. He never stood a cha-”

With no further deliberation or warning, the ground around the group shook with a mighty tremor as Examon leapt forward through them and launched himself towards the waters of the bay with the powerful impact of his vast legs against the asphalt below. Avalon’s shimmering orange form flared into life as he breached the surface and formed a protective sphere around him as he dived in, sending a veritable wave of water crashing down onto the bay.

He only hoped he wasn’t too late.

Beelzemon had remained quiet as BanchoLeomon arrived, at first almost oblivious to the lion’s presence as he wallowed in the torrent of emotions running wild in his mind, and then thankful that he was more concerned with talking to Examon than upbraiding him for running off. Not for nothing, but while he could have dealt with that ten minutes ago, it was all he needed now to completely lose his grip on the situation.

‘No more running away, Dirk.’ With uncharacteristic gentleness, Impmon nudged his partner within their mind.

‘I know, I know.’ He didn’t sound sure of it, but a moment later and they turned from Dorugoramon, looking over towards Examon and BanchoLeomon as they spoke, sparing only a slight wince as he watched the lion react to being told about Siggy’s predicament. ‘We have bigger fish to fry.’

Making his way over, Beelzemon gladly accepted the cigarette that BanchoLeomon offered him. Besides the reassurance that the lion could still think rationally, cliche or no, a good smoke would certainly help settle his frayed nerves before they dived into the chaos once more.

“I can’t really add anything to this particular conversation.” He began, taking a steady drag on the cigarette as BanchoLeomon lit it, “But-”

He paused, suddenly noticing that BanchoLeomon had seized up. He narrowed his eyes and leaned in-

“Sovereigns be damned, Ulforce was over the water, wasn’t he?”

The dam burst, the raging waters behind it crashing through Beelzemon’s mind all at once. His cigarette fell from his gaping mouth to the ground as his neck snapped around to look at the waters a short distance away from them, the words and actions of the people around him fading out to a seemingly-distant mumble as the full implications of BanchoLeomon’s words hit him.

He didn’t even process Examon vaulting over him, nor the torrent of water that crashed down onto the ruined asphalt around them as the tell-tale signs of panic crept into his sudden deep, rapid breaths.

Dorugoramon, silent as she has been since talking to Beelzemon, had been listening in eerie silence once again, piecing together the conversation and implications. Given that the two components of the draconic digimon were neither whole nor entirely rational at this point, it took Dorugoramon much longer to finally let the pieces click together. A chirp echoed inside her metallic maw as draconic head turned towards the bay where Examon had given his less-than-stellar diving performance.

“Ulforce… He’s in the bay?” A deep growl, but a more coherent sentence with a feral undertone. Of course, Dorumon once more exerted control with her unstable partner shifted to the back seat, not that Zei was in any condition to make coherent conversations anyway. Suddenly, her feet began to shuffle as she flapped her wings, clearly wanting to follow Examon’s diving performance, but not wanting to go anywhere near the aquatic expanse. Dorugoramon started pacing anxiously, tail sweeping up dust and water from what remained of the asphalt road and screeching angrily at the dark crimson reflection.
—
Meanwhile, in the waters below…

At Examon’s current depth, the waters of Tokyo Bay would have been dark at the best of times. With the obscuring veil of red and black blotting out the light of the day, he could only count himself fortunate that Alphamon’s presence bolstered his life-force enough that the glow from his form and the intense light from his eyes afforded himself enough of a field of vision to pick out some details of the seabed he was descending to.

”You know, I’ve always wanted to try diving myself, but Dorumon wasn’t built for swimming and Zei was, well, not suited for the water,” the ethereal Alphamon quipped, wanting to break the dread while keeping a second pair of eyes out for their missing azure comrade. ”That said, I doubt my own bulky form would’ve made swimming any easier, so I really shouldn’t complain.”

Indeed, it was almost fortuitous that he was the one to make this dive. While not exactly a marine Digimon, the sharp, aerodynamic form and lingering draconic biology of Examon Mordred made their descent through through the bay a relatively simple task, the movement of his tail and the force exerted by his limbs allowing them to cut through the water at a respectable clip.

“Look, if we survive this, I’ll take you diving for Gusokumon when we get back to the Digital World.” But while Examon tried to take Alphamon’s words for what they were, this latest development had clearly put salt in wounds he’d been doing his best to keep closed. “For now, can we focus on finding Ulforce before things get worse?”

Not helping matters was the seeming impossibility of the task before them. Besides their limited vision, the audio interference and pressure of the water around them made it difficult to pick out any signals that may have feasibly led them to a living UlforceVeedramon; as effectively as Examon could swim, that was where his affinity for marine traversal ended, and he was left relying on his severely-limited senses to pick out the possible location of their friend before time ran out.

As if on cue, Alphamon’s presence within Examon Mordred suddenly expanded outwards, his senses flaring with untold power and sharpness as if they’re being supercharged from the inside. The other digimon within began pulling her own weight while the dragon was left to wonder about what had happened, scouring the darkened water for any signs of Ulforce and tuning out the interference like shrugging off a breeze from her jet black armor.

“... Thank you.” It was a start, at least, and if nothing else Alphamon’s contribution was letting him think and act more clearly and confidently amidst the remaining impact of the pressure and interfering stimuli. His senses were still nowhere near as powerful as if on land, but now at least he could see perhaps fifty meters in either direction around him before his vision tapered off into the darkness of the waters, and separate possible tell-tale sounds from the ambience around them.

An ability he was all the more grateful for as the faint sounds of something struggling feebly against the water around it emerged gingerly into the very edge of his senses.

“Alphamon, do you hear that?” Wasting no time, Examon began to swim towards the noise; adjusting himself as he went to get his bearings for where the sound was coming from in the vast three-dimensional space around them.

”... 4 o’clock from our position.” Alphamon calmly replied, reinforcing Examon’s intuition on the matter. ”No other enemies, fortunately. Keep swimming.”

“On it.” Without another word or thought, Examon adjusted his trajectory again, moving through the water in the direction Alphamon beckoned. As he went, closing in on the sound, he began to focus, pushing against the remaining interference to attempt to tap into the link of the Hazard-users; it had been drowned out by the chaos of the enclosed space before, but anything was better than nothing to put the others at ease.

“No need to panic, I think I’ve found him. Hang tight, and keep an eye on things up there.”
—
A number of increasingly heavy minutes had passed since Examon dived into the waters of Tokyo Bay, with a similarly heavy and tense silence settling over the group gathered by its edge as they waited for something- anything- to clear the air on UlforceVeedramon’s survival. Besides the barely-repressed anxiety of Dorugoramon and Beelzemon, even Parasimon seemed visibly rattled despite his vocal dislike of the blue knight, with his copy of Avalon flickering impatiently as he looked out over the dark waters, as if he himself were debating following Examon into the depths below.

‘I –hink I’-- -oun- -im.’ But as a static-riddled noise intruded into his thoughts, he froze as the flickering stopped, straightening up and looking around in confusion. A moment later, something seemed to occur to him, and he raised one of his hands to his temple, and forced himself to concentrate upon the strange noise with all the focus he could muster.

“... It’s faint, but I think I’m picking something up from Examon,” he said after a moment, as he confirmed his suspicion; the other Hazard Knight was attempting to reach him over the link their kind shared.

At that, Beelzemon started with a jolt out of the wordless panic that had come over him, looking up hopefully towards Parasimon. Likewise, like a deranged beast, Dorugoramon’s head made a sharp turn towards Parasimon before the rest of her body followed suit, crawling in a mad frenzy towards the person on the other end of Examon’s Hazard-hotline. Any news was better than no news, but the zeal from the metallic dragon was certainly more intense than normal.

“I’m having trouble making it out,” Parasimon clarified himself, clearly not wanting to give the others too much hope if he wasn’t correctly picking out the garbled communications from Examon, “But it sounds like he’s found something that might be that blu- that might be UlforceVeedramon.”

“Thank fuck,” was Dorugoramon’s succint reply. While the dragoness hadn’t stopped whipping up dust and water droplets, she had at least stopped tenderizing the already battered asphalt road.

Meanwhile, BanchoLeomon paced impatiently back and forth as he waited with Beelzemon at the waterfront.

“I’m almost surprised drowning for this long hasn’t caused Ulforce to devolve and end the Biomerge.” He grunted, gazing out over the water.

“We’re already going to have to explain one unfortunate disappearance to a family member as it is. Wasn’t looking forward to making it two.” A pointed look at Beelzemon.
At that, Beelzemon turned to BanchoLeomon, staring at him with a mixture of shock and indignance. But before he could say anything-

“You lot are unfairly tough, take it from me.” Parasimon was the first to respond, sighing as he stared down at BanchoLeomon. “That aside, let’s just be thankful for whatever we can get at this point. If he’s still with us, maybe you all have a chance of getting through this in one piece.”

It seemed as if the lion’s words had hit the giant insect somewhere too, and Beelzemon was suddenly reminded of the profoundly uncomfortable conversation that they had had mere moments before Examon and Dorugoramon had turned up.

No, he thought, shaking his head. He couldn’t dwell on that now, Parasimon had said as much himself. He’d fucked up, he really had, but despite everything he was there with everyone else right now to put their best foot forward against the monster above them. He had come back from death to end this. If it wasn't too late for UlforceVeedramon, then perhaps it wasn't too late for all of them to join him, throw themselves into the dark waters and sink quietly into oblivion.

Beelzemon choked violently, his claws moving to his throat in a panic as he fell back to his knees. As he did, Parasimon tore his attention away from BanchoLeomon, staring down at the Demon Lord in confusion. Okay, that had been a low blow from the lion, and neither the Demon Lord or the human whose lingering soul upheld his form were known for subtle expression, but this was nowhere near the reaction he’d have expected.

"You all should have just laid down and faded away, and spared us the trouble of crushing you like the insignificant pests you are." Neither would he have expected the Demon Lord’s next words, a chill coursing through his body as he spat venom in a monotone voice alarmingly devoid of any of the impertinence, cockiness or wryness that the others had come to expect from the duo.

But perhaps more alarming yet was the vicious red light that suddenly cut through the dark haze and burned at his turned back. The chill deepened, and Parasimon was suddenly very conscious of how every single byte in his body was screaming at him to run.

"Before we smite your festering nest of a world, we shall relish every moment of your painful demise," Beelzemon finished, Moon=Millenniummon's baleful glare bearing down upon those gathered at the bay as the fog around them tore into a frenzied, roaring gale of red and black; and as the air above them exploded into a violent hail of crystal.

Twitching and nervous, the snout of Rodendramon swept the ruined streets, clinging to the relative cover of battered buildings and piled debris. Wire whiskers flicked and probed, as their whip like tail lashed in agitation. It would have been much faster to fly, but their wings clung to their back, desperate not to call any undue attention. Using their metallic claws to burrow through the earth would supply them with more cover, and a more direct path, but any haste that could be made would make them painfully obvious from the air, and risk them veering off course.

So, the lithic Mega paced and probed, making their way after those allies that had gone ahead.

---

About half way there, and Rodendramon froze. A sensation like a high pitched squealing cut through their entire body. The acrid musk of powerful Virus Digimon overwhelmed their nose, Rodendramon's already lock-step mind bombarded with dread. As the moment passed, a sharp anxiety pierced Rodendramon's heart. Armor clanking, they broke out into a mad dash, claws gouging the pavement below as the guard over their teeth opened. A hellish assault was bearing down on the group. Rodendramon couldn't make it in time. They'd barely be able to draw one ally out of the epicenter of the attack. The ground began to splinter around the rushing beast, cracks racing ahead in an arc against the bay.
Pillars of jade began to erupt from the earth. Each higher than the last, they raced forward. In a desperate climb, they reached towards the sky, a vervent attempt to offer their distant allies some form of cover.

As the world around the assembled Digimon erupted into a maelstrom of screaming red and black and the air above became a lethal rain of crystalline blades, it seemed for a moment as if the freshly-awakened Moon=Millenniummon’s opening salvo would likewise be the coup de grace of the continued battle.

But in a fraction of a second so slight that even light would be hard-pressed to escape, a barrier of shimmering orange fractals forced their way into existence above them, staying the hand of death for a moment longer.

“Scatter!” With Avalon creating a momentary pocket of safety against Moon=Millenniummon’s assault and blocking out the howling winds, Parasimon barked the first order that came to mind. The shield would hold, but only briefly. Though none of the crystals by themselves could break through it, the sight and sound of cracks spreading as they began to shallowly puncture its surface was testament to how short-lived that reprieve would be.

Dorugoramon was, needless to say, furious; enraged, seething, furious. While she did as Parasimon asked, she wasn’t happy with what she had to resort to, fleeing with her tail between her metallic legs. The fog obscuring her view didn’t help her case, and the accumulated stress was threatening to snap her already tenuous grasp on sanity.

Said grasp promptly snapped as soon as her eyes caught a shot of Moon=Millenniummon.

Maddened with rage and reverting to her feral state, Dorugoramon let out an ear-piercing, metallic roar, clearly no longer caring about everyone else in her warpath. She then clasped her claws together as a ball of energy formed between her palms before exploding in a thunderous blast, releasing a destructive shockwave aimed straight at Moon=Millenniummon. It was clear who she was after, but she didn’t seem to care about anyone else about to be caught in the crosshairs.

It was as that ferocious shockwave was loosened that Avalon finally gave; the force of Dorugoramon’s attack colliding with Moon=Millenniummon’s shattering the orange barrier as it blasted through the opposite side and deflected the stayed crystals.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Fortunately for Parasimon, he’d moved in time to not take a hit from the DORU Din, dropping to the ground and digging his spear into the ground so that he wasn’t decapitated or blown away by the sheer force of the maddened Dorugoramon’s assault. But that was where his fortune ended. As Avalon shattered, it would take more time than the abomination above would allow him to reform; and while he sensed from his inability to sense their vital signs or hear their dying screams that Dynasmon and BanchoLeomon had gotten clear-

“An insect like you should know all too well the futility of your endeavours.”Whatever had come over Beelzemon, it had him frozen in position on the ground, unable to move or respond to Parasimon beyond the vile words that spewed from his mouth in a cold, dispassionate voice that seemed completely alien coming from the usually glib and cocksure Demon Lord. Perhaps he should just leave him to die, cut the burden loose-

“Fuck!” Parasimon hissed with fury, forcing the sudden dark thought out of his head as soon as it came. Avalon was out and if they stayed where they were, chances were Dorugoramon would incapacitate them even if they drew Moon=Millenniummon’s attention. So, not content to waste any more time than he already had, he snatched up the paralyzed Beelzemon in two of his insectoid claws.

‘Stay in the water. All hell’s broken loose and you’ll only make yourself a target by breaching,’ with one last, hurried message to Examon via their link, Parasimon took into the air, weaving around the shockwave and making to look for an ally who wasn’t overcome by madness.

Oh, how he was so, so tired of this. Why every threat Mega and beyond managed to pull multiple forms out of its ass was beyond BanchoLeomon. And this was considering he had two of his own, as well. Avalon bought the entire group the time they needed to acclimate to Moon=Milleniummon's attacks, and BanchoLeomon was no different, dashing and weaving between shards of crystal. His sword swept aside the shards he didn't dodge, and the ones he failed to parry didn't manage to pierce the Gaku-Ran. Good enough. As he managed to duck behind the remnants of a destroyed building, BanchoLeomon chanced a glance around the battlefield, taking stock of the current situation.

Examon had wisely decided not to surface from the water just yet, Beelzemon was still paralyzed and seemingly possessed, and Dorugoramon was...berserk. Wonderful. Useless, all of them. Why was he the only sane one out of all this lot-

BanchoLeomon blinked, forcing the intrusive thoughts from his head. Where had that come from? Even his darker Mode Change hadn't rendered him that hostile to his own allies normally. Then again, it stood to reason that if the crystalline bastard had managed to get inside his head once already, it could do so again. At this point, this entire shitshow of a day had him so worn down that he just processed the thought with grudging acceptance. There was nothing to be done about it, aside from killing the bastard. With that thought in mind, he looked to the skies once more, trying to work out an attack vector against Moon=Milleniummon when he noticed Parasimon in the skies, dead weight in his grasp.

With a gnash of his teeth, BanchoLeomon signaled his still-unexpected ally down next to him in cover, speaking louder once he got close.

"Drop him here, we can't afford to babysit him! Not if that thing got into your head like it's done mine!"